Mr. Speaker

366 Responses to “Talking Boony”

1. i reckon it’s tied to a timer

   mine spoke and the telly wasnt even on

   -frank arrigo

2. 13 Jan talking boony quotes
   Time to get a beer, crickets about to start
   Got a beer yet ?
   Show us a replay of that (x2)
   Show us a replay of that (x1)
   Anyone seen my thongs?
   Show us a replay of that
   When’s the drinks break?
   I’ll drink to that
   Got any nachos, I love nachos
   Now get me a VB, the crickets about to start
   Where’s my beer!!
   Today’s code word is bat (X3)
   I feel like playing table tennis!!!

   -mark

3. Thankyou, thankyou, thankyou!

   Have been wondering all day why Boony has only said a couple of things. Played the “sound” to him and he works beautifully, so I moved him closer to TV….now when the bleeps come up with VB sign, Boony works as supposed to!

   -Christina

4. Hello…

   I have just tried the sound to Boony, but there was no reply, even though he has been responding to them on the TV today…

   I tried After 10:30 (The original scheduled end to the telecast) so I wonder if they just switch off when the cricket was supposed to be over? (As they would have been pre-programmed months ago).

   Anyway, some poeple elsewhere are claiming that their boonies are saying things every over, and even comments that are specific to the coverage at the time, but mine seems to follow the general ‘random stupid comment’ philosophy.

   Still, good for a laugh every so-often, but could have delivered so much more…and VB could have really kicked a goal if it was what everyone had hoped.

   Cheers.

   -Gaz

5. The plot thickens! There seems to be 2 elements at play… During match times Boony seems to make occasional random comments regardless weather the TV is on or not. The “blip blip”s trigger him to say more stuff. But some of the Boonys don’t seem to react very well to the signal (maybe the batteries are flatter or something) - in our highly controlled test conditions we have 4 boonys - One is “chatterbox” Boony who talks constantly. One is “quiet” Boony who says things randomly, but doesn’t seem to react to blips. The other 2 do nothing! We are contacting VB for information and will keep you posted.

   Another interesting thing regarding the timer - In W.A. the timer seems to shut off after the game finishes in Eastern Standard Time - so if there is a delayed telecast Boony seems to stop speaking.

   All this could be totally incorrect, however. Can anyone shed more light on the mystery that is Boon?

   -Mr. Speaker

6. Yep, I’ve definitely had Boony talking at random moments, no TV on. No cricket being played anywhere.

   -Rob Irwin

7. I am such a fool. I thought that the talking Boony was just a simple ‘press-a-button-and-talk’ toy. Alas,how wrong was I. Why didn’t I get one? I feel very much left out.

   -Manton

8. Mr Speaker…(Man that sounds weird!)

   Can you please explain the ‘Chatterbox’ boony?

   I have seen on other forums that some seem to actually comment on a Shot, good ball or whatever…but I have only seen this posted once or twice. Most seem to only get the reactions tot he Blips.

   Again, I can only hypothosise that different networks (or states, cities etc) broadcasts have different signals for Boony…VERY interested to see what response you get from VB.

   Regards,

   -Gaz

9. To clarify what I meant by different “Networks”, I mean Channel 9 in Syd, Melb etc, or WIN TV in Regional areas (where I am)

   -Gaz

10. Try connecting your boony back up to the batteries about an hour before the cricket starts. I have had the batteries out of mine and this got it working again. Don’t know if this the correct thing to do, but it worked for me.

    -Jase

11. UPDATE! In an effort to get to the bottom of the Boony mystery I have started the Facts Of Boon page. Please contribute all you can to this noble cause.

    -Mr. Speaker

12. I have found that my talking boony appears to say random things at random times. There appears to be time influenced sayings, but after reading your forums, I have two theories…

    1, Perhaps the bleeps initiate a delayed response in boony…? Tried the boon.wav file three times, and nothing happened. I then continued to watch the cricket and about 40 minutes or so later, boony said three things in a short period (”where’s my thngs?” “when are we going to the pub” and something else. This was on 15/1/06, around the 35/40 over mark)

    2, The correct combination of bleeps initiates boony to talk. Mine has talked inline with the bleeps, but definitely not after EVERY bleep.

    I am keen to see what VB says….

    DPOK

    -DPOK

13. *UPDATE* The boony i had the batteries out of only worked the night i did it, it has been mute ever since. Now, the tones they send out that you can hear are 7000hz then 8000hz and back to 7000hz. Using tone generator software and playing a tone at 7000hz and 8000hz at the same time will make him talk, but this doesn’t work all the time.

    -Jase

14. Hey dude,
    Showed your site to my brother-in-law who is into electrical stuff and heres his comments. Not sure if this sheds any further info on what makes Boonie tick:
    ——————————–
    it must have a timer which is permanently connected to battery and the the chip under the blob of epoxy is the heart of it possibly a “pic” chip or a more elaborate mircocontroller.
    ====================================

    It seems to get further into the Boonie mistery, you might need to try and remove the goo!

    JMTC
    Molly

    -Phillip Molly Malone

15. great blog. There is certainly a timer at work on the Boonie Doll as he has spoken at various times without the TV on and in various enviroments. He only talks though when a match is on.

    Further, I have not been able to get him to react to the audible tones, on various TV’s and positions.

    From my research I believe the doll has an audible receiver as claimed, however, as a fail safe, the techs at CUB have also incorporated a timer chip to ensure that Boonie is activated at appropriate times, and on a random basis during these times should the audible reciever not be functioning as it should.

    What further makes me believe this is his code word. On the first one dayer, the commentators said listen out for the word, and low and behold, Boony came through with the word shortly after. However, I had the tv off for the second match, and he said the word anyway!

    I love him all the same!!

    -Boony fan

16. I think we have a new species of Boonie that has evolved somewhere in between the Quiet Boonie and the Chatterbox Boonie. I have called him Boonus Randomnus. He reacts to the beeps on the cricket coverage - sometimes, but he has also be known to react to Dr Quinn Medicine Woman on Hallmark, Fawlty Towers on UKTV and Fight for Fame on Fox8. I have also noticed he likes talking to himself in dark rooms when there are no lights on and the television is turned off. I shall continue in monitoring this new species of Boonie……

    -Rebecca

17. Tested my Boony with the Tone generator and it didn’t set him off. Will try it again on Friday. Interestingly the tone generator saves to wav files so it should be easy enough to distribute the file to more people for testing.

    Also wonder if it is timor based to only go while the cricket is on, whether something will happen after the cricket is over.

    JMTC
    Molly

    -Phillip Molly Malone

18. That mustache looks… familiar. Is Boony Merv’s cousin or something?

    Please excuse my ignorance- i know nothing about cricket.

    -chuffed_enuff

19. The Television needs to on for Boony to talk as Boony likes to be watching the cricket.

    -Alan

20. Fri 20th Jan
    Prior to 2:30pm tried the tone wave file and nothing happened, Boony doesn’t say anything.

    At 2:30 he spoke on his own accord.

    Now after 2:30 and with the tone wave file he talks on demand! Beautiful

    I’ll drink to that!

    -Barry

21. Just tried 7000hz + 8000hz for 150ms… Boony talked on demand for about 8 goes….sweet…

    Maybe there is a “reset” tone?… or have I killed the second love of my life??

    -BOON BUSTER

22. My Boony (ordered from eBay, I couldn’t live without one) arrived this morning. About half an hour before the cricket started, he said “Get a beer, the cricket’s about to start”.
    Been fiddling with that tone generator, can make him say “He’s seeing ‘em like watermelons!”, “Where’s me beer?” and “Quack, Quack, Quack.”

    -Shmoo

23. My boyfriend and I just got our boonie doll from his dad (who drinks lots of VB). Nothing has happened during the whole game today. I’ve tried to get Boonie to speak with the wav file provided this blog site … any suggestions for someone with no idea about electronics?
    cheers

    -Chris

24. I had my Boony on tonight during the Aus/SA match. He didn’t respond to all the beeps, but he did to probably 3 in the second innnings. Also before the second innings he said “Time to get a beer, Cricket’s about to start”

    Tonight, quite a few hours after the match and at the suggestion of Ben T, I downloaded the Tone Generator program and set the thing up as directed, but alas my Boony is a Mute!

    My flatmates were watching a DVD while the first innings was on and they said it talked a few times then, so I think the timer theory is spot-on. I am irked that I can’t make my Boony talk when I want.There has to be a hack, maybe circumventing the microphone input?

    -Matt

25. I reckon he won’t talk outside the designated time of a match. I couldn’t get him to work this morning using the wav. file, but during SAf’s innings it worked like a charm so give it a go during tomorrow’s Sri Lanka- Australia match.

    Talking or not, it’s still a collector’s item!

    -Shmoo

26. My Boony experience is similar to that of everyone else, definitely a timer, kicks off with ‘Get a beer, the cricket’s about to start’. Funny stuff considering he said it at 10:30am in Perth :)

    I can only get mine to talk on demand via the tonegen after Boony says something at random (without the TV - stuck in the office) Plus the tonegen only works for a minute or so and can’t be forced to speak until another random comment.

    Another guy in the office has one and his talks heaps more than mine. I hope someone can unlock Boony soon so he talks on demand.

    -Klacker

27. Assuming Klacker is my colleague, Klacker and I played with our Boony’s all day at work which was excellent fun. I reckon we would have given the whole office a laugh, but annoyed the crap out of others, as we repeatedly played the Tone Generator and WAV file right throughout the day.

    What I learnt from our testing is that each Boony has numerous “Talking Windows” with a possible fixed or variable length. Therefore when the cricket provides the tones, you have to hope that your Boony is in talk mode. This could explain why people are saying that their Boony’s are responding to some TV tones, and not others. Furthermore, this could also explain how some people say (like Klacker) that their Boony does not talk as much as others, as we never know how long our Boony’s Talk Window has been open for prior to hearing him speak in that particular Talk Window.

    Other points of interest is sometimes when my Boony was in talk mode, the Tone Generator would trigger one comment, and the wav file would trigger a second comment. This implies that for any given “Talk Window” Boony could say any number of comments, depending on the tone received.

    -Talk To Me Boon

28. He will say some things that have been pre-programmed into him, such as “grab a beer, the cricket’s about to start” which they are probably programmed to say so many minutes before the game starts. He’ll also say the codeword 3x. Yesterday’s was “cheers”.

    -Shmoo

29. To Summarize …

    Boony has a clock (est).
    Boony does not appear to talk outside of game days.
    Boony “wakes up” without a tone signal on game day.
    Boony does not talk between waking up and the start of play.
    Boony has some sort of “Talk Window” that responds to tones.
    Boony can respond differently to at least 2 different tones per Talk Window.
    The number of responsive tones per Talk Window varies.
    Boony has a fixed or variable amount of Talk Windows of a fixed or variable length.
    Boony talks without receiving a tone. (from time to time).
    Boony “falls asleep” at the end of the scheduled match time.

    Boony continues to work after he is opened.
    Boony appears to stop working on subsequent game days after the batteries are replaced.

    -Talk To Me Boon

30. I’d like to hear if anyone has a “chatterbox Boony”, and how often they talk. I think mine is a quiet Boony.

    -Shmoo

31. To Jase (or Anyone Who Has Had The Batteries Out …)

    Your experience above advises that you had your batteries out on a game night, and continued to work for that night only.
    Have you tried taking your batteries out again (on anyday), and testing him with the WAV file and Tone Generator at different frequencies; for a lengthy period of time ?

    Another farfetched theory of mine is that when Boony is first powered by the batteries the clock starts to tick for the first time at a predefined date. If our Boony’s were subjected to quality control and therefore some type of testing, then it maybe possible that the first day the Boony’s are powered they are put into “Talk Mode” for x amount of time.

    This theory could explain why Boony talked immediately after the batteries were removed and replaced.

    -Talk To Me Boon

32. Testing Boony

    For those that want to test their Boony to see what type of Boony they have, I suggest that you use the Tone Generator to create separate tone signals.
    eg Make a wav file for individual frequencies in the range of 9000hz - 5000hz and fire them at Boony during game time over a period of at least 1/2 an hour. You will soon learn what frequencies your Boony responds to, and possibly how frequently.

    -Talk To Me Boon

33. To Talk to me Boon -

    I had the batteries out for around half an hour and reconnected them an hour before the cricket started on Friday. Boony didn’t work during the game, but came to life at 22:05 that night.

    -Jase

34. Ok Raiders of the Talking Boony, some cool updates! Talk To Me Boon has done some great work in expanding his Grand Unified Theory of Boon, and I think he’s nailed it with the “talk window”. Hopefully today there can be some serious tone-testing to find more details on it.

    Also, as detailed in the facts of boon page, there have been some successful attempts at reviving a dead Boony! Though now this “Loony Boony” thinks the cricket starts at 1am everyday.

    (And, Chris, if your Boony has never said a single word, then I’d call up Fosters and ask them if there is anything you can do - don’t forget to write back here if you find any tricks though!)

    -Mr. Speaker

35. Well I have done very little testing but after reading this site (thanks everyone by the way) I have turned my once shy boon into a chattaboon. Here is what I did:

    Sat him in front of my tv when he said get me a vb cricket is about to start.
    Got pissed off when after the first beep he said nothing.
    Ran the tone generator, managed to get him to say four random comments (mainly get me a beer). then nothing
    All the while the cricket was still on and boon was sitting in the suggested spot.
    after about 10 mins (after using tone gen) he said a random comment.
    ran tone gen again, he said about 6 comments (different ones this time) then once again nothing.
    Got pissed off and grabbed myself a beer and sat down to watch the cricket.
    now he is saying comments that sometimes are relevent to whats going on quite regularly.
    No explanation on how it works but i do believe I have unlocked the inner chataboon in my once shy boon :)

    -to_boon_or_not_to_boon

36. Hope the following helps get to the bottom of the mystery of Boony:

    I put Boony through his paces and found that he responds to a single continuous tone with a frequency between 7552 Hz and 8646 Hz. Guess those numbers will vary a little bit from unit to unit!

    The tone needs to be at least about 25 milliseconds. It does work if the tone is as short as about 20 ms, but it’s not as reliable.

    -Voda

37. Voda is that a tone of any single frequency in that range, or a tone that moves from one to the other?

    -Matt

38. Matt, a tone of any single frequency in that range…. though I haven’t tested them all!!

    I narrowed it down after first trying rounder numbers like 7000, 7500, 8000, 8500, 9000, etc.

    -Voda

39. wow, I can’t believe how fascinated people are with their boonies!
    seems like some clever people have already pieced together most of the facts on the talking boonies, but for the record:
    Boonie is on a timer that is programmed to AEDST (hence some of the problems with delayed matches in Perth). He ‘wakes up’shortly before the commencement of each ODI match. He then goes ‘back to sleep’at the end of the match (reason being that the three AAA batteries inside wouldn not last the whole summer if Boonie was activated all the time). Boonie will only talk and react to the frequency triggers during those times the unit is activated (when an ODI is on). The timer chip is programmed to go off at random moments and also to say what the day’s codeword is (you can then enter the boonanza competition to win prizes with the codeword). Boonie should also react to the frequency triggers - a little chirp that sounds when a replay comes up accompanied by a VB logo and also during the VB ads. It doesn’t matter where you are watching (eg Nine Metro, WIN, etc.) because the signal goes through the feed. Boonie would even work overseas if you were tuned into the cricket live! They are however a little tempremental so it is best to move them around the room until you find a spot that seems to work the best. There are 3 different triggers, each with a group of phrase words attached. Boonie will say a random phrase out of the group depending on which trigger is activated. One group relates to bowling, another to batting and the final group is random. So depending on whether the replay is focusing on batting or bowling, usually the trigger activated will say something in line with what you are seeing and hence create the feeling that boonie is commentating.
    If you want to know anything else, post a question and I will check back soon and hopefully be able to answer.

    -Boonie Authority

40. Ah cool Boony Authrority. Is what Talk To Me Boon said correct about the Talk Windows?

    -Shmoo

41. Glad to see we now have a Boony Authority on board.

    To start with, I have 2 Boony’s - WA Boony and NSW Boony.
    The results of my 2 Boonys in action today are …
    WA Boony reacted to 2 frequencies at most, while NSW Boony reacted to 4 frequencies at most; per “talk window”
    (each frequency reaction gave a different comment: per Boony)
    NSW Boony appeared to have more Talk Windows, and longer Talk Window lengths than WA Boony.

    Both Boony’s said the same non-tone generated comments
    WA Boony would speak about 1 minute before NSW Boony.

    Time to get a beer, crickets about to start
    signalling the wake-up
    Got any nachos, I love nachos
    signalling the 1/2 break between innings
    both Boony’s became unresponsive !
    Now get me a VB, the crickets about to start
    signalling the start of the second innings
    and more talk windows
    I feel like playing table tennis!!!
    signalling the end of the game
    both Boony’s went back to “sleep mode”

    Unless other people advise otherwise, I definitely think that our Boony’s are preprogrammed with definite comments for specific times of a non interupted game, as opposed to just delivering no-tone random comments at random times.

    -Talk To Me Boon

42. To Boony Authority

    Will our Boony’s continue to work at the end of the ODI fixture ?

    Will Boony work within 12/24 hours of changing his batteries everytime ?
    If yes, How long for ?
    If no, Why would Jase’s Boony come to life again within approximately 12 hours of his battery reconnection ?

    -Talk To Me Boon

43. I am living in Bangkok and the boon has said a few random things but doesn’t seem to react to the TV. We get 9 coverage through S. Africa but I am guessing the VB beeps wouldn’t be altered. Will try the tone generator and see. Boonie Authority….will there be a Talking Merv next season???

    -Thai Boony

44. Wow! An Authority of the Boon! Are there any “boony backdoors” so we can get him to talk during non “talk windows”?!

    If we have, perhaps unwisely, opened our boons and killed him - is there anyway to start him up? There appears to be a 24C01A EEPROM chip that controls boony - any tricks we can do to that to wake him up?!

    If Boony talks, and no one is around to hear him, does he still make a sound?

    -Mr. Speaker

45. Hey guys, thought i could shed a little more light on the whole boony thing, i work in a bottle shop and during ODI’s we set up a boony choir and also random boonies all over the store. some interesting things that i have noticed are.

    Some frequencies all boonies will react to and say the same thing at the same time while others only certain boonies will react to which makes me think that if there is noise coming from the telecast while the frequency is being played it may interfere with the frequency

    the timed comments are random but all seem to happen at around the same time, these periods are pretty funny as there are boony comments flying from everywhere

    one very amusing boony phenomenom i have had the pleasure of witnessing is the talking box of boons, over a hundred boons in boxes talking incesantly.

    will endevour to get a recording of the tone and play it to the boony choir

    -42 Beers

46. Hey Boony Authority,
    I really want to know if Boony will open up after the series finishes. Also, is there anything (read fuses or something) that stops us hacking it?

    Great idea!
    Molly

    -Phillip Molly Malone

47. I heard that the boony’s voice is that of an actor and not the real thing. Does anybody know?

    -Thai Boony

48. Yeah I heard that somehwere too.

    -Shmoo

49. ok, a bit of work to do here!
    I should point out that I am not a tech, so I don’t quite understand a few of the comments about talk windows but most of the other q’s I can help with.
    I should start by clarifying one of my earlier comments that Talk to be Boon has picked up on - when I said ‘the timer chip is programmed to go off at random moments’ I meant moments where there was no trigger to cause the reaction, ie. all the Boonies have been pre-programmed so that even without a tv or a tone gen you will get some satisfaction! All Boonies have the same timer programming complete with the same comments. However, any difference between a NSW and WA Boonie, or Boonie from any other state, is purely incidental. Whilst there were different batches made, none were created for individual states. This would have been a logistical nightmare and as I said before, they are all programmed to AEDST.
    Sadly, your Boonie will not continue to work at the end of the ODI fixture.
    I don’t know if Boonie will work after changing his batteries each time, but it is likely to throw out all his programming. The Boonies were quality tested to begin with so Talk to be Boon’s theory on the Boonies starting to tick at a pre-defined date seems correct. I will need to follow this one up to be sure.
    Boonie should work fine with the tone gen Thai Boony - as long as you test it while an ODI is in progress. It should also work with the TV but you are probably having the same issues as most other people.
    I don’t know about any Boonie backdoors, but I highly doubt any exist and I don’t know if anything stops you hacking it.
    Molly, not sure what you mean about Boonie opening up. He doesn’t have a machine gun if that’s what you’re asking.
    Boonie is not voiced by Boonie.
    As for Talking Merv, you will have to stay tuned on that one…

    -Boonie Authority

50. Mine only worked for one game. Crap Boony?

    -Shisus Boon

51. www.accure.com.au
    try these guys,they seem to have given birth to a taswegian (BOONY)
    ps .my boony follows most of the theories outlined obove also.

    -mark

52. POINT OF NOTE.dont tamper with the BLACK BLOB, ITS hisVOICE BOX,just pulled apart my supercheap auto v8 door bell it has a similer blob for the trick sounds,so take care or you may end up giving him an electronic treaceotamy ,owie.

    -mark

53. Thanks for the reply Boonie Authority.

    My discussion surrounding WA Boony vs NSW Boony was more aimed at labelling my 2 Boonies - but thanks for the state vs state clarrification anyway.

    A “Talk Window” is a length of time that our Boony’s respond to triggers (TV/ToneGen). These “Talk Windows” appear to open (allows response) and close (disallows response) numerous times throughout an ODI.

    The Quality Testing.
    I know you have said that you are going to follow up on this topic, but can you also address the specific questions below.

    Approximately how long after a Boony first had batteries in him did the quality testing take place, and for how long ?

    My Theory is that after the ODI fixture is complete and our Boony’s permanantly go back to sleep, it may be possible to wake our Boony’s again by reseting the timer.
    (by disconnecting / reconnecting the batteries)
    The timer reset would then allow us to utilize the period of time that was used for Quality Testing.
    If Boony activated himself within a relatively small number of hours of having batteries (for quality testing), then every time we wanted our Boonies to wake up, all we would have to do is keep disconnecting/reconnecting the batteries and wait the specified time it takes for him to wake up and be quality tested.

    -Talk To Me Boon

54. Using the Tone Generator

    Try using the following settings

    Sine1 Start Frequency: 8500 hz
    Sine1 End Frequency: 5000 hz
    Sine Duration: 300 ms

    For my Boonys, after lowering the start frequency by 100 for each test, this resulted in …

    Below lists the Start Frequencies.
    While testing, it is critical to keep the end frequency and duration constant.

    WA Boony.
    Greater than or equal to 8000 — Comment 1.
    Equal to 7900 — Comment 2.
    Less Than or equal to 7800 — Silence.

    NSW Boony.
    Greater than or equal to 7900 — Comment 1.
    Equal to 7800 — Comment 2.
    Equal to 7700 — Comment 3.
    Equal to 7600 — Comment 4.
    Less Than or equal to 7500 — Silence.

    notes:
    Assumes Boony’s talk window is open.
    Comment 1 and 2 are not necessarily the same for each Boony.
    I have only used rounded settings - specific frequencies will apply for best results.
    I did not get all frequencies working in all talk windows.

    -Talk To Me Boon

55. Ok guys, just some thoughts…
    #1 If boony is set on a timer, then this timer needs to be set. Otherwise think about it, how many boony’s are out there? Lets say there are minimum 5,000 if there was no way to set timer then 5000+ boony’s needed to have their batteries connected at the same time which be an impossible task. So there must be a series of tones to set the timer.

    #2 If boony is set off by a timer hitting a trigger, then there has to be a way to manually set this trigger off.

    I am by no means an electronics guru, but i have worked out where the timer circuit is, just need to work out which one the trigger is which may take me a while as i dont want to bust boony.

    -Jase

56. Jase, the battery reconnection theories are all coming from what you experienced - the fact that you disconnected/reconnected your batteries, and after a period of time your Boony woke up.
    Do you recall how long he woke up for, and what did he do. Did he say random comments, did he respond to tones …

    Also, do you think that you triggered the timer when firing tones at him.

    Assuming you still have a sleeping Boony, have you removed/replaced the batteries again ? If so, did he respond in the same way ?

    -Talk To Me Boon

57. - Talk to me boon,

    I removed them and reinstalled an hour before the cricket the other day and he came to life after 10pm the same day. I haven’t tried disconnecting them since. He responds to the tones ok once he does wake up.

    -Jase

58. Jase - So did he respond on Sunday’s game …
    Is he a dead Boony, or does he still wake up.

    -Talk To Me Boon

59. Jase (based on your previous thoughts #1 and #2)

    Given Boony Authority has advised that the Boony’s were quality tested, it still is possible that a battery reset could have reset the timer/clock, which induced the Activity Boony for quality testing. After the testing was complete, the testers could have set the timer/clock for production via a tone as you suggested.
    But the testers could have also triggered Boonie’s test mode via a tone too.

    Hopefully Boonie Authority will shed more light on the Quality testing process.

    -Talk To Me Boon

60. No boony woke up too late to catch the game, but he was talking most of night until morning.

    -Jase

61. I took my NSW Boony on holiday to Darwin as there were two games being played up there during my stay. Boony went of half an hour before the game started at 12.30pm with the comment ‘Get me a beer the cricet is about to start’. So I guess that dispelles the theory that there are different Boonys are made for different states. Also I had the hotel room TV switched off and Boony still chatted away. I even had the TV switched to the Discovery channel and Boony was still making comments. I have two Boony’s and have placed them at different positions around my lounge room in Sydney. Looks like I have a Quiet Boony and an Indifferent Boony (speaks lots sometimes but others keeps his mouth shut).
    Patiently waiting for next seasons Talking Ritchie or Talking Bill Laurie!!!!

    -DGC

62. Something I forgot to mention - my mate got his Boony around mid December and he was talking from the minute he opened the packaging and has continued to talk at all times of the day and night. He resorted to putting Boony outside at night because Boony was keeping him awake - another version of Boony? - maybe Psycho Boony

    -DGC

63. OK something wierd happened this morning. My boony always wakes up on cue at 1:30 on game day, but today he woke up at approx 11am! Then at about 11:40am he asked me for some nachos but the game is still over 2 hours away. What has happened to my precious?

    MY PRECIOUSSSSSSS?!?!!!

    -spootle

64. Hey Boony Authority,
    What I guess I meant will he just talk after the one dayers are finished. Can I suggest that you might want to consider giving us Boony Fans a way to either electrically hack it (for those willing to do it) or if it is available, the queues to make him work after the 1 dayers are over. It would be a great PR hit, in my honest opinion.

    TIA
    molly
    http://www.mollyzine.com

    -Phillip Molly Malone

65. I agree with Phillip, I’d love to hack my Boony so he could talk whenever I want after the VB series is done.

    -spootle

66. Update on early wake up Boony:

    At 12:46pm Boony asked when the drinks break is, he then responded to the tones responded above until about 1pm when he asked where his thongs are and has stopped responding since. I hope he still talks during the match, if he’s still awake by then, at this rate he’ll be wanting to play totem tennis before the lunch break!

    I wonder what caused him to wake up so early today when he has woken up at the right time on every other match day?

    -spootle

67. 1:47: Boony “woke up” for the second time today. WTF??

    -spootle

68. My Boony woke up early today too. I have used the tone gen as follows
    Sine 1 start 9000hz
    sine 1 end 5000hz
    sine duration 4000ms
    Works well during window. He has said
    “looks out from here ump”
    where’s me beer?
    quack quack quack
    (also the nachos, thongs and drinks break comments.)
    Lovely!

    -Thai Boony

69. 3:33: Today’s code word is Stubby.

    I’ll try and see what he says tonight for the code word, it could be different since he has woken up twice?

    -spootle

70. Boony controversy!!!!!!! boony makes a drug reference!!!!!
    while experimenting with the tone generator boony said “oh thats a good pill, very good pill”

    Start freq 11339.29
    End freq 10000
    Duration 500

    Play it a few times to get it to work

    -42 Beers

71. Tut-tut 42 beers - that ain’t no drug reference! Go brush up on your cricket banter/vocab! Boony was mearly tipping his hat to a sterling bowling effort. Though, I’m at work and my wicket alert hasn’t moved for a while, so it couldn’t have been that good of a ball…

    You’re not playing the tones to your Boony Choir are you? Can you record that?!

    -Mr. Speaker

72. my mexican boony also woke up early today ,and wanted to play table tennis by three pm. hope he wakes up coz my mates are coming to hear him natter away
    anyone contact www.accure.com.au yet???????

    -mark

73. Hey ppl, i love the boony doll but mine seems just to quiet! is there anyway i can make him talk alot more? i’ve heard that some boonys work like every 10 mins or so…? my boony is about 2.5m directly in front of the tv so should i move it somewhere else or in any particular position that would help? thanks heaps :)

    -Jase_34

74. jase-34
    try moving him around the room, make shure ya got the volume up a few more notches than normal.
    1-2 comments an hour is what mine does .although ,he has done 3 a minute not watching cricket
    has anyone else thought he may be triggered by mobile network signals, (3 the phone telco does sponser) just a way out there idea…??????????

    -mark

75. contacted http://www.accure.com.au/ personally with e-mail, am awaiting reply .????

    -mark

76. hi mr speaker son, loony had his battery removed today to try to get him to speak at a realistic time you know how i hate to be woken up by children coming home at 1am. will let you know the outcome.

    -loonies dad

77. My 2 Boony’s woke up at 11am today as well (NSW and VIC Boony’s), as we had a team meeting at 1:30pm I took one along (Chatty Boony as I call him) at 1:45pm “Get me a VB the Cricket is about to start” So Boony was added as a Guest to the meeting minutes 8-)

    I’ve found that the tone only works during game times, 2pm - 10pm, outside of that it’s only the preset. I can trigger Boony during game time with no hassle with the boon.wav, turn down all equalizer settings, and leave the 2nd last one as 1/2 way.

    Stereo Boony if you are sitting the middle and they happen so say the same thing at the same time, rare that happens, but freaky.

    TV seems to have reduced to 1 beep now, and Boony is rather quiet! I get more fun out of him at work than watching the cricket.

    I believe Boony needs to have a holiday!

    -Tom

78. Boonie woke up early today because at time of manufacture, it wasn’t known whether today’s game would be a day match or a day/nighter. Given today’s match did not feature Aust, you will also find he was powered down approximately every second hour to save batteries, so less talk windows.
    Now…some useful information on the whole timer piece. Boonie is actually quite smart and records the time every 5 minutes. Therefore, if you take his batteries out he will be behind schedule by however long his batteries are out for. Given Boonie is only programmed to work up until the end of the ODI season, this would suggest that Boonie’s life could be extended if you only put the batteries in when you wanted him to work. The catch being, he would obviously have to be inside a talk window. Maybe you could wait until the start of a game, and pull his batteries out once you know he is inside a talk window. Then replace batts whenever you wanted him to chat. Don’t know whether that theory stacks up but I will have to see if one of you techs like Talk to be Boon shreds this theory or not. Alternatively you could find a way to reset the timer…don’t ask me how to do that!

    -Boonie Authority

79. I’m curious to know how Loony Boony was created, I want to make my Boony talk all the time!

    -spootle

80. Once again, thank you Boonie Authority for more info.

    Thanks for the explanation about today. I had suspected that it was relative to what type of game was played today vs how Boony was programmed, but was not completely sure about it.

    Okay, it looks like I have lost the battle to make use of a Boony Quality Testing period; unless it can be triggered via a particular tone at anytime, but I doubt that is the case.

    However, assuming we are still not missing critical facts, I believe we can extend our Boony’s life to infinity (based on Boonie Authority’s new input)

    As Boony Authority suggested, all we have to do is remove the batteries at a key time and insert them when we want him to talk. If we were to pull the batteries again before another 5 minutes ticked over, our Boony’s time stamp would not change, and therefore Boony would be suspended in time forever.

    At this point I do not know what that would mean for our Boony’s, relative to what he says.

    Obviously, in his current form, pulling the batteries and re inserting them would be a hassle, but this maybe worth it to those that want to keep Boony alive. However, as Klacker has suggested to me, for those that can do it, or want to pay for it, it may be possible to attach a switch that can be used to control the batteries. It may also be possible to attach a switch and a timer, that manually wakes him, and turns him off automatically before the next time stamp is recorded. Unfortunately for me, i’m no electronics wizard.

    -Talk To Me Boon

81. To Boonie Authority.

    “Alternatively you could find a way to reset the timer…don’t ask me how to do that!”

    Are you implying there IS a way to do it ?
    Can you give us any clues without giving it away ?
    Can you at least answer the following … assuming a reset is possible…
    Is the reset based on a special tone received, or is an electronics guru required ?
    Ok, enough on the secret reset :)

    What can you tell us about the rest of the programming.
    Are there any more days like today (Tues 24th) ?

    “you will also find he was powered down approximately every second hour to save batteries, so less talk windows.”

    Does this imply that on other game days when our Boony’s do not respond to tones or say random comments, that he is actually powered down to save batteries? Hence what we are now referring to as a talk window, is just the fact that he is not powered down.
    So in effect on game days, our Boony’s just power up and down throughout the day - is this correct ?

    Finally (for now), will there be a game day (like the finals) that he is powered up for the complete game ?

    Thanks Again …

    -Talk To Me Boon

82. Actually, we may not have lost the battle on utilizing the Quality Testing Window afterall.

    After a reset - Maybe Boony turns into Quality Control Boony until a certain timestamp has been recorded or special tone received or …… and therefore, maybe Loony Boony IS Quality Control Boony !

    So Mr Speaker - can you reveal the exact details on how one can create Loony Boony - as discussed on the facts of boon page.

    -Talk To Me Boon

83. So boony keeps track of time…
    Ok well that explains the eeprom inside boony, but still leaves the question how is the time set in the first place?

    -Jase

84. Hi,

    I have a “Quiet Boony” that only respondes to the automatic-timed sayings. He really hasn’t said much else unfortunately.

    Although, during yesterdays games (SL vs Sth Af) I put on my dogs collar. The dog started running around the lounge room. Boony went crazy! I think the little fella thought the dog was going to eat him or something - but “Quiet Boony” turned into “Loony Boony” all of a sudden. For about 5 minutes he didn’t stop talking.

    Unfortunately I had to go out, so I’ll test “Dog scared Boony” again next game. He obviously was reacting to the ‘clinking’ noises of my dog’s name badges, etc … jingling around his neck.

    Interesting …

    Damo …

    -Damo

85. Good luck Loonies Dad, um, I mean, dad (I can’t believe you’ve posted to a blog!) - according to Boonie Authority though, it sounds like Loony Boony should be under control.

    I have some interestin’ news for people with dud boonies - I had one (”shy boony”) that had never said anything - not a word. I pulled him open yesterday and tested the circuit board with a multimeter - and i found the batteries where supplying only 0.9v to Boony, instead of the ~5 volts it should have been.

    I swapped the batteries over from my initial boony kill, and the “shy boony” is now “regular (i.e. quiet) boony” - Hes no Chatterboon - but I’m beginning to thing Chatterboons are defective.

    The 0.9v must have been enough to power the timer stuff, because he seems to be in time with the game (unconfirmed).

    I’m still testing trying to make a Loony Boony - apparently though, there was a pin disconnected on one of the chips - when this was re-soldered, Loony Boony was born. I can’t see any unsoldered pins on mine, but I’ll keep hunting!

    -Mr. Speaker

86. I have had me Boony since 1st match.Like others here have reported,he triggers random comments via a internal clock.Half hour or so b4 the game he always says ” get me a V.B the cricket bout to start” & ” I feel like playing table tennis ” at end of game & he goes to sleep till next game.The Boony.wav supplied by Mr.Speaker DOE”S work for my Boony,but only on days of play(tiss that clock thingy again”.The tone generator DOE”S work,by adjusting freq. range he will trigger diff comments,but again only on game days.Using both the tone generator & boon.wav he will trigger every time,but after a few comments he seems to like to have a rest for 2 minutes.hey,it must be time for a V.B.!

    -Shane

87. Hello fellow Boon enthusiasts.

    My Boony does not speak very often. He is a sad Boony. He is a surly Boony. He speaks when alone in the dark, with no TV on. I have tried placing a VB near him. He does not repay my generosity.

    His first comments came prior to play commencing as I arrived home from work (two hours early) to enjoy Boony’s wisdom. The TV was not on.

    Boony has made only one play-specific comment, labelling the Sri Lankans ‘boring’ during their first dismal batting effort against the Aussies.

    Boony has not reacted well to the audible prompts. Surly Boony couldn’t give a stuff if he’s is supposed to talk. Surly Boony looks out for one person. Surly Boony.

    -thedoctor

88. hey boon team,
    just got off the phone to the http://www.accure.com.au/ people,very helpful, but alas no tech info ,
    also contacted fosters in melbourne,no help ,BUT they have a COMMENTS LIST,YAY.Unfortunatly cuold not get a copy,
    SO I Ask any one who i a smoother phone caller than i to call up and sleeze a copy, happy hunting.

    -mark

89. “Pass me a biscuit please. A Monte Carlo would be nice.”
    Absolute champagne Boony

    -Thai Boony

90. so using the tone generator alot during game time helps the quiet boony become a chatterbox boony? i’l try this tommorrow (26 jan) has anyone had this happen to there once shy boony? i’m trying to get mine to talk more!

    -Jase_34

91. Just a thought, but maybe “chatterbox boony” could be created by watching cricket on a DIGITAL TV. Could the tone be a lot more pure/chrisp? I have tried it on both analogue and digital… Boony did seem to respond to the tones more often on DTV. Just a thought…

    -BOON BUSTER

92. To Talk To Me Boon,

    I don’t know whether the timer can be reset or not - if it can, I don’t know how to do it. What you are saying about the talk windows relating to when Boony is powered up or down is correct. The Talk Windows are simply those times that the unit is powered up to respond to the triggers.

    On the 7th Feb Boony will wake up at 10am but most other game days he will wake up at 1.30pm…so depending on what time I hit the post button, he should be going off any second now.

    -Boonie Authority

93. and this is what he will be saying and the times he will be powered up:

    1:30 TB: Hey, get me a VB the cricket’s about to start
    2:15 TB: Anyone seen me thongs?
    2:15 5:45 Match time (EDST)
    2:30 5:45 Unit active
    3:30 TB: Is it time for a beer yet?
    4:55 TB: When’s the drinks break?
    5:45 TB: Got any nachos?
    5:45 7:15 Unit asleep
    6:30 10:00 Match time (EDST)
    6:45 TB: Hey, get me a VB the cricket’s about to start
    7:15 10:00 Unit active
    8:20 TB: Where’s me beer?
    9:00 TB: Todays code word is “thirsty” (repeat x 3)
    10:00 TB: Random event phrase
    10:00 Unit asleep

    The time in between each ‘unit active’and ‘unit asleep’ comment is what everyone has been referring to as a talk window. This is the time to have your Boony near the TV or setting him off with a tonegen (assuming you don’t all have ‘buggered boonys’ from pulling the batteries out!)

    -Boonie Authority

94. Thank You Boonie Authority - Very Informative as usual !!!

    -Talk To Me Boon

95. I’d like to fiddle with my Boony, but I am too scared I will bugger him up!

    -Shmoo

96. Love this discussion so I figured I should contribute.

    I downloaded the boon.wav file on Tues 24/1 (during the active window) and played it to my Indiffernet Boony and hadn’t realised that media player was on continuous loop. Boony went rancid expelling many “Don’t bother chasing that one” comments on queue. But before I could turn off the loop, he uttered “You’re joking aren’t ya?” and he has been a “Mute Boony” ever since - even to boon.wav. He activated today (26/1) but has only said the usual opening comment and a random “Anyone seen my thongs?”.

    Could it be that Boony has an “Abuse of Service” protection mechanism programmed into him? Trigger him too many times within a window of time and he will get “pissed” and refuse to talk to you?

    I’m hopeful of an “eternity boony” activation tone to send him so that we can enjoy our Boonys forever.

    -Charlie Murphy

97. Hi all,
    My boyfriend called the BOONAZA hotline which was via VB’s switchboard (not fosters!). They’ve offered to replace our mute boony and have guarenteed a talking boony.
    I hope that helps people with silent duds.
    I can’t wait to experience what everyone else has been talkinng about on this website

    -Chris

98. i think boony is some sort of a cheap radio

    -cj

99. I woke to a glorious morning this morning Australia day 2006, sat down to watch Mel and Kochie’s lamb BBQ then had my first can of VB at 7:40am (I sacrifice taste for the best country in the world … Australia on this special day)

    The now empty can of VB I placed on the edge of my coffee table and put D.Boon on his throne and faced him towards launceston sat back and got ready for an Australia day Boonanza !!!!!!

    It’s now 5:49pm and nothing, nothing I tell you !

    Could the talking boonie be in fact an Al Qaeda operative sent to destroy us ?

    -Twin Brother Darkness

100. it’s now 8pm (26 jan) and boony has said all “timed” comments so far but other than that not much… has anyone had many comments from there boonies without counting the “timed comments?

     -Jase_34

101. the vb logo with a blip was just on 8:55pm (AST-QLD) and nothing from my boony damn those boony dolls not even the code word

     -mr sandman

102. mr speaker i’m very tempted to replace the triple (AAA) batteries in my boony, but i hope it doesn’t stuff up! but u said u noticed a difference in his comments. when would be the best time to change the batteries?

     -Jase_34

103. Hey Jase, I replaced the batteries in my dead one and he’s been working like a champ (on time, said the codeword). If Boonie Authority is correct, And he’s been pretty dang good so far, then swapping them over shouldn’t cause a problem - but I’d swap it quick, so that he’s not out of time.

     I also found something cool during yesterdays match - there is a connection you can make to trigger boony during a talk window - he was chatting away like a mad man if I left the wire joined too! I’m going to solder on a push button and give it a test next match. Ill link to a picture of the connection points here when I get some spare minutes at lunch.

     I’ve been trying to figure out a way to force a “power on”, so we can turn him on anytime… but so far no luck.

     What still seems mysterious to me is that if you play the tone (or make the connection) boony will speak, but then after a bunch of comments will stop reacting for a while. Charlie Murphy suggested an “abuse of service” mechanism which sounds feasible, but it seems a bit random… any ideas?

     -Mr. Speaker

104. which connection?????? please please
     my mexican BI-POLAR BOONIE could do with this treatment

     -mark

105. There were a few spots on the board I found that triggered him. Here is the one I think I will solder to: circuitBoonyTrigger.jpg
     I can’t remember if that was the connection, or it was to the yellow arrow. Have a test though! I’ll confirm it next talk window!

     I’m also going to solder in an audio output connection, so I can plug him into my stereo!

     -Mr. Speaker

106. After 5 games of Boony being silent. I replaced the batteries on Australia Day. He spoke one saying after an hour and then came to life. By accident I think I have come across a trigger. I was switching between the cricket and the tennis and anytime Maria Sharapova let out one of her almighty screams, boony would react with “Cracking Shot!” and “looks like he’s throwing pies”. Then about 5 times in a row he would say “Take a swing mate”.

     -Screech

107. Has anyone else tried to change the batteries?…. any problems? I am tempted to give it a go but I thought Boonie Authority said it was sure to stuff it up if we open him….

     -Thai Boony

108. I did a spectrum analysis of the boon.wav files, The two tones in this particular beep seem to be 6476 Hz and 7897 Hz…..for what it is worth.
     With regards to the secret reset, the missing S1 on the through hole side of the board looks suspicious. Try fitting a button here and see what it does. I can’t get away with pulling Boonie apart until after the series is over so this blog has been most informative…cheers SMP

     -Philip N

109. thanks for the feedback ppl! yeah i think now i will definately change the batteries. and see what happens. i have been playing the tone generator alot and he does say alot of comments but i would like if boony would actually make special comments if there was a wicket, or good shot during the game… let u know how it goes!

     -Jase_34

110. Got my Boony on Tuesday from E-bay and couldn’t try him out till the Australia Day game. He didn’t seem to react to much on the cricket, although he did say a few odd things during some adds. I hadn’t read any of this blog until just now (Friday evening), so I didn’t think to try a tone generator. However, I did think to plonk him next to my Jaycar Theremin just before last night’s game finished. He loved it! Couldn’t shut him up! I had created a Raving Boony. I reckon he went through his entire repertoire in the space of about 30 seconds. In particular, he mentioned that “very good pill” a number of times - by the way he was babbling, I think he’d had a few very good pills. Of course there’s always the come-down and now he’s shut up and gone to sleep it off. He’ll be right by Sunday.

     -Crackers

111. hi,
     i think what someone needs to try is recording the cricket then replaying it with boony infront then you would find out if it was running on a timer or something. and also mine said quack quack quack when a wicket just fell. It wasnt a golden duck but he still must have known it was a wicket. He has done this twice.

     -Sean

112. I changed the batteries in my boony (opening him up didn’t harm him) and went to http://www.nch.com.au/tonegen/ inputted values between 5000.00hz and 9000hz and he was talking like a mad man!!! Give it a try…

     -Nick C

113. I taped the cricket and played it to boonie (the bleep’s that is) he just sat there like a stale bottle of piss. I can’t wait until sunday when the cricket is on. We have had him at work and so far he’s only said the standard timed comments. I worry that boonie may need new batteries, in fact I find myself worrying about boonie alot lately, I hope he’s alright.

     -Adam

114. I woke my Boony! Though now i think I might have given him that disease where you age really quickly. I think Philip N may be right - If I multi-metered the connection I made to trigger Boony there was 0 volts. After I bridged the connection that is labeled “S1″ on the circuit board, I was getting 2.2volts (as I was during game times). I didnt leave it connected, just joined the two gold points, then unconnected it. I had been testing the circuit board all over, so Im not 100% sure it was that connection that woke him.

     About 2 hours later (12:45ish - 28/1) boony said “Get us a VB, the crickets about to start”! I didn’t get a talk window though, maybe because I pulled out the batteries to solder on my audio-out socket. Just then he said “Today’s codeword is VB” (x3) - has that one been?

     Back to testing….

     [update!] Yep, what ever I did woke him up today as if it were a usual match - a couple of “talk windows”, just went off to play totem tennis now. I suppose he wont do anything tomorrow though… Also, I soldered a normal rca output plug across the speakers, plugged it in to my stereo, and now have AMPLIFIED BOONY!

     -Mr. Speaker

115. hmm,
     are you guys sure he says ‘PILL’?
     i always took that for ‘DEAL’!
     hence, thats a good deal, very good deal,
     since i dont watch the cricket, i thort that may be for a VB commercial or sumthin,,

     -xxkurtxx

116. I’m pretty sure he says pill.

     -Shmoo

117. Hi Mr Speaker

     Been keeping up to date regularly with your blog. Great stuff.

     Anyway on Friday 27th January, when there was no cricket on at all I came home around 4.50 pm AEST with my two kids and within about 5 seconds Boony started talking.

     Is this a strange new phenomena where maybe Boony can be triggered by noise/being left alone for a while?

     My Boony is a bit of a shy reserved type. He does speak every so often during the cricket, but usually not very loudly so we all look at each and say “What did Boony just say?” Same thing happened when we came home. We knew he said something but not what he said.

     Amazing little guy the Boon.

     -Gavin

118. 27/1/06 after watching a couple of epsidoes of M*A*S*H so I could get some tips from Hawkeye and Pearce. I decided to open up my Boonie and replace the batteries.
     I made sure everything was ready and the battery replacement took under 10 seconds.

     An hour later he sprung to life and wanted to play table tennis, then all quiet until 12:30pm EDST today 29/1/06

     He has now said two things and seems to be on the road to recovery, he’s alive I tell you , alive

     -Twin Brother Darkness

119. Mr Speaker,

     The codewords for each day so far are:

     Jan 13 - Bat
     Jan 15 - Ball
     Jan 17 - VB (maybe this is the date your Boonie thinks it is)
     Jan 20 - Cheers
     Jan 22 - Slab
     Jan 24 - Stubby
     Jan 26 - Thirsty
     Jan 29 - Legend

     Hopefully these dates will also serve as an indicator for anyone else who has a Boonie that has lost track of the right time.

     -Boonie Authority

120. I used the Tonegen at 4:55PM today (29/1) with a sweep of 5000 to 9000hz and then 9000 back to 5000, and he uttered something to do with the pub twice in quick sucession. He has since not spoken, even at a VB ad prompt, but it’s only been 15 minutes. I might bring him back over to the PC soon and try again.

     -Adamantinus

121. yeah i’ve tried tone gen a few times today and has not worked once. is it best to replace the batteries in a talk window?

     -Jase_34

122. You were just a fraction early Adamantinus.

     Today’s Talk Windows are as follows:

     4:00 TB: Hey, get me a VB the cricket’s about to start
     4:30 8:00 Match time (EDST)
     4:45 TB: Is it time for a beer yet?
     5:00 5:50 Unit active
     5:25 TB: When’s the drinks break?
     5:50 TB: Got any nachos?
     5:50 6:45 Unit asleep
     6:15 TB: Hey, get me a VB the cricket’s about to start
     8:45 12:15 Match time (EDST)
     6:45 10:00 Unit active
     6:45 TB: Where’s me beer?
     7:50 TB: Anyone seen me thongs?
     8:55 TB: Where’s me beer?
     9:30 TB: Todays code word is “legend” (repeat x 3)
     10:00 TB: Random event phrase
     10:00 Unit asleep

     -Boonie Authority

123. Try playing spider solitaire when boony is in a talk window!! Looks like he likes playing cards…

     -Jase

124. Boony likes pokies, I took mine to the pub and he went nuts when the pokies were going off. I did get some rather strange looks.

     He went off today on a Virgin Blue flight (Syd-Melb) the air hostie asked me to turn him off. “Sorry Boony can’t be switched off, but he’ll have a VB”

     While the game is later today from Perth, mine woke up around lunch time and has been talking alot without the TV. Now back home he continues to say random things, but does not respond to the TV. I can trigger him with the wav file fine.

     -Tom

125. I have played with the wav file, sometimes he responds, sometimes he doesn’t. He doesnt seem to react to the TV beeps!

     -Jim

126. Hi Boonie Authority - Long time no speak …

     I just need a little more clarrification about that Talk Window. (even though now the topic is really about how we can hack our Boonies)

     “The time in between each ‘unit active’and ‘unit asleep’ comment is what everyone has been referring to as a talk window.”

     Are you certain this is correct ? To me, this implies that our Boonies should respond to tones right throughout this period of time…however, I believe that our Boonies dont actually do this, because I did not get my Boony to talk every single time I fired my normal range of tones at him; during the “unit active” and “unit asleep” times.

     Thus making Boony actually having separate Talk Windows within the active-asleep time frame.

     Please advise.

     -Talk To Me Boon

127. I agree with TTMB. During the awake times, Boony will react to the wav file and the Tonegen, but only for about 30 seconds at a time, and not always the first time I tried. It seems to take about 4-6 minutes for Boony to react again, then he lasts another 30 seconds. Anyone else having this experience?

     Maybe this is a fitness issue, and Boony needs to work on his endurance.

     -Matt

128. I recently took Boony on a 3 week tour around Europe.
     At 3am one morning in Rome, I was woken by Boony telling me that the cricket was about to start and that he needed a VB.The room was silent and no TV in sight.
     Tuned to channel 9 and near the TV my arse!
     He kept saying random comments during the day, which proves that Channel 9 are talking shit.
     He kept this wake up call routine everytime the cricket was on in Australia.

     -Andy G

129. Boony was completely confused yesterday with the cricket in WA. Whoever had programmed him forgot about time zones because he was ready for his first beer at around 1:30 and was then ready to play table tennis at 10pm. I went out for most of the day but caught some wisdom in the night session (until ten when he pulled up stumps). While I was eating dinner he spoke eight times in around 20 minutes. None of which I could make out because he was too far away. The blips on the tv don’t always seem to set him off but he goes through talkative periods when he won’t shut up. there was an article about the technology in the Ssaturday Age and 9 aren’t lying that he needs to be infront of the telelvision if you want to get the most out of boony.

     -Adam

130. Hello to all,

     I am an electronic Engineer from Melbourne.

     I have analysed several “Boonies”, and to put you all at ease, here are the technical “Boonie” facts:

     1) The memory chip you refer to is a 1K EEPROM which holds timer counts.
     2) The “black blob” holds the main cpu and the voice data
     3) Every 5mins he will read the memory.
     4) The right half of the circuit board is not powered up all the time, but when the cpu count equals the memory count, the circuitry will powerup and detect the presence of a tone. The width of the filter is variable, but the centre frequency of this tone is 8000Hz.
     5) If you remove the batteries he will reset to manufacture date. If you then press the “reset switch (s1)” he will power up for 5mins and then will read the memory forever. During this powerup time, you will need to code his cpu with a relative time in order to synchronise all boonies.

     Basically, don’t remove the batteries and then reset him, or he won’t work. I am working on the final piece of the puzzle, which is to work out the programming sequence. I have my boonie responding to either a pushbutton on his base, or normal tones, but as I have him connected to another MCU (microcontroller unit) he no-longer responds to the cricket times.

     Any questions, feel free to contact me at

     gatekeeper_man@hotmail.com

     Tim Smith

     -Tim

131. Well done Tim. This has been a subject of technical speculation for a few days now and your analysis of the devices function seems to fit the speculations of myself and several Tech/Eng freinds of mine. Perhaps the next part of our speculations might be of interset…After a reset whilst waiting indefinatly for the time the only data input available seems to be the micrphone. Maybe the time is sent as an acoustic signal using the same data path as the control beeps. From a production perspective it is the only way I can see to synchronise a large number of Boonies at once.

     -Philip N

132. it was only a mater of time before BOONY stopped looking at his wristwatch and took direction from a new board of selectors, well done TIM,your doing us proud ,keep up the good work.
     looking forward to your results ,BOONTASTIC !!!

     -mark

133. Boony asked for a beer during a TAC commercial, but has only spoken a couple of times all up.

     -S-

134. I’ve played the Boon.wav file through my headphones to my Talkin’ Boony and he reacts every time without fail! I did find that he would repeat himself if you played the wav file again within say 30 seconds of each other. Thanks to whoever supplied the Boon.wav in this post!

     -Matt

135. After reading the thread and deciding that my Boonie had stopped on Thursday night, I thought it was a great idea to replace the batteries on Sunday evening. After replacing the batteries my boonie started going nuts. He did however at one stage during Sunday’s game utter “the codeword is thirsty” *3 (Jan 26th). Apparently it was supposed to be legend.

     Its now 6pm on 31st and he hasn’t said squat. I’m starting to think that Boonie’s batteries went dead on Thursday night, and it wasn’t until his change of batteries that he started working again. I now think that his timer must be out by three days. Maybe he’ll decide to crank up again tomorrow night (which he’ll think is the 29th)?

     -Dan

136. I only got my boony yesterday, he spoke up regarding the start of play at 1:10pm this afternoon, even when the game didn’t start until 4:30pm. Then at 6:45pm he asked for another beer because the cricket was about the start again. He must be of the quiet generation as he wont respond to Boon.wav or the tone generator.

     -Mitch

137. what is todays code word? (31 jan) boony just said today’s code word is bat! that was ages ago i thought???

     -Jase_34

138. so did mine! I thought i may have had a loony boony!

     -Mitch

139. Yep Mine said bat 3 times around 7.15 Adelaide time 31/Jan

     -Marty

140. got bat 3 times bout 7ish in vic,
     can i give BOONY beer though an intravenous drip coz mine wants to break his old 52 can record !!!!!!

     -mark

141. Just to add to the debate I have found two other things that set boonie off, a squaky door knob and an oven timer. At first I thought the door knob was just coincidence until I had 3 boonies. The first one was a quiet one and didn’t say much anyway but when 2 more came home every time I went to the garage through the door with the squeaky knob the new ones mainly would would go off. The other day when the oven timer went off they were at it again. Obviously it is a response to the particular frequency that sets them going. This only happens during a game though, not any other time.

     -Den

142. my 15 month old daughter can squeel durring the game and set him chatting,so she squeels at him talking. taswegian doll and a baby having a conversation is a crack up !!!!!!!!!!!!

     -mark

143. An update on the reverse Boongineering,

     Firstly, thankyou for all your support, I have given Mr Speaker some information on some modifications to your Boony that connect an LED to indicate when a “talk window” is active. Also, to all those who have asked, it is not possible to fire him up whenever without extra hardware. I am working on this so that all Boony fans can cherish this witty toy forever.

     The Boony that I was testing had a loose connection, the data path from the memory was loose and therefore after a reset he would ask for data, but not get any. I rectified this last night and sped him up by a factor of 37. Every 8 seconds he read his memory instead of 5min. I had him like this for about 1/2 hour (about 18 hours normal time) but he didn’t power up with a “talk window”. I am still working on the programming sequence so that he thinks that a game is on as soon as he powers up, but I need a faster interface to speed him up further as I don’t know what the manufacture date was.

     -Tim

144. hmmm is the cricket on today? wed 1st feb?
     my boon just said. ‘wheres me beer’
     i checked the TV and looks like no cricket is on today???
     the only time ive tinkered is taking the 4 corners screws out and having a look inside. that was about 2 weeks ago, , i didnt change the batteries and it has been working great ever since,

     -xxkurtxx

145. hmm working great ever since? i dont mean it wasnt working before i unscrewed it,. i meant that its like i never unscrewed it, this is the 1st time hes said anything on a non cricket day.. it was on yesterday was it not?

     -xxkurtxx

146. MY BOON TALKED! Wheres me beer? was the greatest line i have ever heard from anything….best ever. Can’t wait till the crickets on and he says some stuff! GO RANDOM BOONY!

     -dougs

147. kurt we must have one of those interconnected boonies…great minds think alike here.. lol

     -dougs

148. yes mine said “where’s my beer” as well, i though it was so strange! haha

     -Jase_34

149. yeah it freaked me out at first as i only recieved it 2 hours before and wasnt expecting much. But had it next to the computer and BAM! he blurted it out, hilarious stuff. i wish he was random 24 hour boony, itd be awesome.

     -dougs

150. hmm something esle that was said here a while ago, i havent seen someone say its working now, BUT the desktop boony on the VB page now works,,
     http://www.cricket.com.au/?s=boonanzadownloads
     i eagerly installed it thinking its gunna play with my talking boony, woohooo, com’on download faster, ahh yes install install.!!!
     and what is it,, looks like some damm virtual girls rip off. thou thankfully he dont get undressed, but yes looks like he just swings a bat, and such and such, booooring, me want a 24 hour random boon,

     -xxkurtxx

151. the desktop boony just keeps u up to date with the latest news and stuff

     -Jase_34

152. mine also asked for a beer about 4pm aest
     must be a programing glitch [not so perfect boony]
     i also have only pulled the four corner screws looked ,said sh*t,put him back together,never to be opened till we can trick up the circuit OR the crickets over!!!

     -mark

153. Hi all - There are a few Talking Boony projects brewing now - mostly started from stuff everyone has sent in.

     1. The Reverse Boonjaneering Project: Hack your Boony with love and a soldering iron - started by Tim.
     2. The Talking Boony Gallery: Got a good photo of the plastic champ? Send it to mrspeaker@gmail.com - started by Tom with some cracker Australia Day photos - I’ll get this up soon.
     3. The Difinitive list of Boonerisms - Elizabeth has send in this request - I’m sure we are the bunch to provide such a document. Send everything you hear him say to mrspeaker@gmail.com - List up soon.

     -Mr. Speaker

154. My boony was very subdued, he asked for a monte carlo once and I got it for him in a vain attempt to please the boony gods, otherwise he just looked at me, I looked at him. I drunk more beer. Then after watching my fair share of RPA I thought I would tinker with his ticker, I tested my voltage output and it was only supplying 0.9v. So I did wat any boony doctor would do and decided to change the batteries! My blood was pumping, the sweat was running and so was the timer, with steady hands I removed his dud life blood and inserted the fresh stuff………. I look at him… he looks at me, he doesnt ask for a monte carlo anymore, or beer so I drunk it on his behalf. Even though he did not say much to begin with it was still more than what he says now. I would not recommend taking the batteries out, but please PLEASE find a way to restore him to his former glory oh boon engineers, for the love of all that is boonific. It is now in YOUR hands. thank you.

     -Sorry Boony

155. Think I may have found a way to keep Boonys talk window open on demand; which means using the wire link/switch project - CREATES A PUSH BUTTON BOONY!

     I posted it in the Reverse Boonjaneering link (2 posts above)

     -David (Boon) Tenace

156. You little rippa, solder on!

     -Sorry Boony

157. Doh! Tim said that forcing open the talk window wont work.

     I’ll be content for now to have “Boony on demand” for game days…

     -David (Boon) Tenace

158. i was watching stargate sg1 and atlantis and my boony talked of course this was on tuesday this week IE 31jan06 and in those two show the teams where at a battle and where using keyboards and pressing buttons and this to bilps sounded and he said “SHOT” and “that aint worth it” and something about “watermelons” not sure about that but that was funny anyways!@

     -mr sandman

159. After my Boonie ‘welcoming’ me home on a non-cricket day I decided to crack upon the Temple of Boon and replace his batteries. The swap took less than a minute but then the great man was silent during the next one-dayer (not that he spoke much before hand).

     Yesterday I switched his batteries back to the original AAAs shipped and still nothing.

     Then, amazingly at 6 AM (AEST) this morning (2 Feb, another non cricket day) Boonie clear as day says “Where’s me beer?”

     About 90 minutes later I was throwing the tone generator at him going from 5000 to 9000 and back to 5000. Still nothing. I gave in to defeat only for my kids to proclaim 30 minutes later (about 8.10am) that Boonie just talked. And then all of a sudden he shot out two more comments (but maybe this because of the weird sounds coming on ABC Kids’ “Save ‘Ems”). I then parked myself next to Boon and he went silent only ten minutes later for him to say “Quack, quack, quack”.

     I can only guess that swapping the batteries back and around has done something to his ‘window’ which now thinks cricket is played early in the morning.

     That’s unbelievable!

     -Gavin Oz

160. Tim: Did you say you have a seperate MCU connected to your boonie? From what I can work out after removing the epoxy (and sacrificing the micro underneath) the chip must have an onboard DAC as the speaker is driven directly from the chip. You’d have to assume that the 24C01 would hold all of boonies quotes, when read it would provide a digital form of his quote to the processor which then runs it through a DAC to the speaker. My plan is to connect a PIC to the EEPROM and read and store its data so we can then feed this through our own DAC, allowing us to have Boony speak all his quotes. From there the possibilities are endless! I can’t see a lot of point in keeping the analogue circuitry for the “beep” drive, as once the cricket is finished I doubt we’ll hear those tones again. We just need a reasonable input trigger and we can resurect our boonies for ever!

     -Wal

161. Wal,

     I think you may have miss-understood the now venerable Tim’s posting on his initial investigations. The 24C01 is a 1K EEPROM and only contaians the date and times for the start and (perhaps) finish of each game in the season. The data for the actual message sounds seems to be stored in the uP (Under the black blob). The EEPROM is just not big enough and that would have made things too easy ;) If you could read the content of the EEPROM from a dead board all you could determine would be those times. If you then could determine the structure of the time stamp you could re-write the EEPROM with new dates and then refit it to a working board during the 5 min period when the uP is inactive, you might resurect him for those dates. Now that sounds challenging…..
     Cheers

     -Philip N

162. What tha? Boony just said “Where’s me beer? I’ll drink to that! They’re seeing ‘em like watermelons!” One after the other, with not a second between them…

     -Shmoo

163. Can’t wait to see the Talking Boony Gallery!

     -Thai Boony

164. heres my files that activate boony that i recorded from STargate SG1 and Stargate Atlantis

     http://members.iinet.net.au/~skocsis/sg1_boony.wav
     http://members.iinet.net.au/~skocsis/sga_boony.wav

     tell me if it works for you

     !!warning they are a bit load!!

     -mr sandman

165. OK, after conversing with Twin Brother Darkness, here’s my theory - agree or disagree as is your want.

     I believe that our Boonies were all activated in some fashion or other with an initial bleep from the TV. This might well explain how all the Boonies are synchronized given the monumental task of trying to have all the little fellas in one room (that’d be a photo to treasure) and synchronizing with one giant bleep.

     It’s obvious our Boonies keep some kind of time mechanism to ensure the correct code word is given for each day. We might call this Boonie time instead of Epoch. This time keeping is probably a little sketchy but I’ll run with it.

     From what I can gather, voltage levels have a lot to do with how Loony our Boonies are. As the Power of Boon begins to drop, he seems to get less loony and becomes Indifferent Boonie. We seem to have found from our electronic guru friends that Indifferent Boonie becomes Quite Boonie when voltage levels get down to around 0.9V and finally becomes a Dead Boonie when the little chap finally pull up stumps.

     As Twin Brother Darkness (and several others) have replaced their Boonie Lifeblood, we suddenly have a Reanimated Boonie and away he goes. It seems after the life saving operation, his time mechanism gets reset as people have reported different code words and talk windows that relate back to events surrounding the beginning of the series.

     Is it possible that we all have a hidden Eternity Boonie inside our Likeness of Boon. Could it be as simple as replacing his Power of Boon to reset his timer and bring him back to the beginning of the VB series of 2006? It seems all that is required after a battery change is the right “bleep”, and bingo - back to the beginning.

     In my mind, the fact that our little mates only talk to us every second or third day is brilliant. I will never get sick of hearing from him and I know I will always look forward to the little champ waking up again.

     Eternity Boonie for us all? I think so!

     -Charlie Murphy

166. I love my boonie I have managed to get 5 now and I am going to build a memorial a memorial to this little piss tank.
     I would love to organize a “talking boonie picnic” where everyone brings their boonie and drink homage to this 4″ fellow.

     -DAVE MIDDLETON

167. i agree we should all put our boonies together for some big event and make him all talk like here in brisbane lets all get together at southbank on a sunday and hav a drink sulate to our boonie and chat about some loonie boonies during the season

     any one interested???????

     anyone try out my sounds abovew????

     -mr sandman

168. i was just sitting next to boonie, with the tele off, and he informed me he “needed a beer”, and that “the cricket was about to start”. He’s alive!!!!!
     05/02 13:30

     -mat

169. Boony fails to respond to the noise through the TV. However, I can connect my laptop up to my stereo, and play the boon.wav file, and he wakes up and turns into Boony-On-Demand! I can get him to respond to the beeps through my TV upstairs if it’s loud enough…but doing so you don’t hear what Boony says due to the noise levels of the TV. Must be a quite responding boony!

     -Mitch

170. Well my boony says only what he is pre programmed to do. On the odd occasion strange things make him say stuff like the bell in a dog chew toy or the noise of him being pulled of the top of a VB. But the boon.wav and the tone gen files cant get a peep out of him. Mutey Boony.

     -Drunkenbushman

171. I have tried “Project 3: Make him talk when he’s awake” from the reverse Boonjaneering page. Works perfect!!! I bought a push button switch from Dick Smith’s, and it fit perfectly into Boony’s mick hole. Once I installed longish wires as directed, positioned the switch in the mic hole and put him back together, he was CUSTOM BOONY! Now my custom Boony will talk (during a “talk window”) on demand, at a push of a button.

     A “long” press of the button and he’ll say a “random” beer/food comment (such as “Nachos, I like Nachos”, or “Hows that beer going”, or “When are we going to the pub?”…etc)

     Short flicks on the switch and he says batting and bowling comments (like “How is that?”, “Dont bother chasing that one”, “He’s seeing them like watermelons”, “Looked out from here ump”…etc.

     I have noticed that the random comments aren’t that random. The comments for the three different events (Batting, bowling and food/beer) only change every couple of minutes or so. So when I continually hit the “long press” on my CUSTOM BOONY, I will hear the same beer/food comment over and over again. Same goes for batting and bowling comments.

     He still responds to tones, however, the push button switch is positioned in the mic hole, so I had to turn it up a fair bit for him to “hear” the tone.

     All in all, I highly recommend “Project 3: Make him talk when he’s awake”. Take the annoying tones out of YOUR Boony’s life forever!

     -DPOK

172. Fired up Boony during a game, although I was at work away from TV.
     Using the tones 6000-8000 Boony said the following:
     He’s seein em like watermelons
     O thats a good pill, very good pill
     He’s throwing down pies
     On your way son
     Is it time for a beer yet?
     Have a swing mate

     Then he went silent, and hasn;t spoken since :(

     -BUzza

173. Whoops! he’s alive again.. this time he followed up with:

     I feel like playing table tennis
     Thats gone in my book
     Got any nachos, I love nachos
     Don’t bother chasin that
     Show us a replay of that
     Pass me a biscuit please, monte carlo would be nice!

     -BUzza

174. It can’t run on audible sounds because my boony speaks in my room, when the TV isnt even on… It must be timed, or recieves reception of some sort from channel 9..

     -Nick

175. I found that with the tone generator I could only get Boony to speak about 6 times in succession, then he’d shut up. So we tried Project 3 and installed a pushbutton. Same thing. The pushbutton will fire him off about 6 times and after that he won’t speak for the next hour or so. The batteries were giving 4.1v so I’ve changed them for new batteries giving 4.6v, but still the same thing. I reckon he’s programmed not to talk too much.

     -David Hogg

176. I’m not sure how this works with the competition. My boony told me just now that today’s code word is ‘cheers’, although my desktop boony says that today’s code is ‘VB’??????

     -BUzza

177. buzza
     your boony lost it somewhere,my boony told me its VB
     have you tricked out your boony???

     -mark

178. ps all,
     just found this info,may or may not help
     200,000 talking boonys
     37 quotes
     @ http://smh.com.au/text/articles/2005/12/09/1134086812393.html

     -mark

179. I think Channel Nine missed an oportunity this week announcing Eddie as the new boss. Surly Boonie should have been given the job.
     This liitle piss tank is now destined to take over Benauds job as the head of Commentry Box. Who cares about the Jonnie Walker Trivia or the KFC classic catches I just want to hear Boonie the 5′2″ Tasmanian man who made bat pad his own.
     “Any one seen my thongs!”

     -DAVE MIDDLETON

180. Does anyone know if Boony will talk through the optional 3rd final???

     -DPOK

181. HAs anyone recorded the boony sayings? I’ve been working at it, these are the ones I have so far. If there’s any I’ve missed, would love to know.

     1. Oh that’s a good pill, very good pill
     2. Brings a tear to me eye
     3. Anyone seen me thongs
     4. How’s that beer going
     5. That’s gone in my book
     6. He’s seeing em like watermellons
     7. He’s throwing down pies
     8. On your way son
     9. Have a swing mate
     10. Is it time for a beer yet
     11. Todays code word is “Legend”
     12. Shades of Boony
     13. I feel like playing totem tennis
     14. You’re joking aren’t ya
     15. I’ll drink to that
     16. Have you got a pool table
     17. Good nut
     18. quack, quack, quack
     19. Looked out from here ump
     20. Nice
     21. Got any nacho’s? I like nacho’s
     22. Show us a replay of that
     23. Pass us a biscuit please. A monte Carlo would be nice
     24. When are we going to the pub?
     25. Shooooot
     26. Don’t bother chasing that
     27. Where’s me beer?
     28. I can bowl better than that
     29. When’s the drinks break?

     -Wal

182. Tim or somone who knows post me where to solder in an LED to indicate when Mr Boon bastic is in the window. either post up a link or send it to me at toddpalm@bigpond.net.au

     -Supertailz

183. Wal, boony definately says “crackin shot”

     -Jase_34

184. Boony will be active during the third final but is not programmed to speak with the timer chip. He will have an active talk window for most of the day and should react to any triggers in the cricket telecast or during VB ads. Similarly, he should also react to the tone gen…for the last time, unless you have made some modifications.

     -Boonie Authority

185. cheers Boonie Authority
     but what does the timer chip do after the last day
     does it go to forever talk with tones, or DEAD!(AAAARRGH)

     -mark

186. My Boony spoke just now during a Ford Ad I have foxtel IQ so I stopped the broadcast and rewound it he spoke 4 times at the same spot when the kid rung the bike bell, he did it during last weeks games as well

     -Marty

187. My Little Mute Booney has never reacted the the bleeps that are auposed to make him talk, but during the 2nd semi final when i was leaving the girl friends house to go home n watch the rest of the game the squeek of the front screen door made him speak. I got him to say about 10 lines with the swing of a front door. Then she came out to see what i was doing and he stopped. But it was gold acctually making booney talk. When i got home i tried my front door but alas it did not squeek so i found a butter knife sitting on the coffee table and hit it on the side of that table so as to make a vibrating noise and that made him talk about 5 times in 30 min ( yes i hit the kinfe on the table for 30 min). I think its very odd that a screen door that squeeks and a butter knife finally got my Booney speaking but the tone gen n the VB bleeps didnt.

     -Drunkenbushman

188. This is it, Boony’s last opportunity to tell the Lanki’s that they’re “throwing down pies”, “don’t bother chasing that” and how much he likes Nachos. So today, Boony and I are taking half a day off work, and heading to the wonderful GABBA. Together we will tell the Sri Lankians a whole range of ‘catchy’ phrases. Long live the Boon…

     -DPOK

189. My Talking Boony has gone off during Futurama and also during the Mitsubishi Car Ads.

     Been watching the cricket today for about 30 mins and no talking from Boony and no bips from the TV set.

     -xpfalcon

190. OK, after about an hour and a half, he’s awake.

     -xpfalcon

191. It’s just after 10:30 afer the third final, and my Boony is still responding to tones. A good sign?

     -Nick

192. Alas, farewell sweet Boon…we had many fond moments together…

     -Shmoo

193. R.I.P Boony. 14/02/06. You will be missed.

     -Damo

194. Wal, maybe some of the other quotes were the other codewords? I didn’t get my Boony till the day of the third and final final (was in mail en route to Canada) but can tell you that he perked up as soon as he came out of the box with a “When are we going to the pub?” which brought so, so, sooo much happiness to a displaced aussie. He squawked something else a bit later, but I didn’t catch it. The one comment I heard was perfect, but if anyone stays on this and finds a way to control the Boony, let us all know eh? Cheers!

     -ozNoz

195. Anyone wishing to pay respects to the talking munchkin, head over to the homage to Boon: A Boon To Mankind… God speed Boonjaneerers..

     -Mr. Speaker

196. just got mine today, damn

     will i ever hear him?

     -fuzz

197. Is that it??? All over? Has anyone experienced a resurrection Boony? It has been three days already!!

     -Thai Boony

198. Well maybe next season VB can bring out a special 52 can carton they can call “the boon” a homage to this 5′2″ piss tank with a talking boonie that counts down the amount of stubbies to go to even near the record of a thirsty Tasmanian. R-I-P BOONIE 2006

     -DAVE MIDDLETON

199. Rumour has it next year we will get a Richie doll!!!

     -Bear

200. That would be awesome! Marvellous shot that.

     -Shmoo

201. my boony wont bloddy talk and been waiting for god no’s how long to get 1 i finally do and its the end of the v.b series if any 1 can find some v.b series videos can you just paste the link thanks. (or if any 1 can tell how to make him talk)

     -no name

202. can sum 1 plz respond asap

     -no name

203. Sorry sir/mam - your Boony is good as dead. No ones Boony talks post-series. Your hopes rest on Tim and the Team of Reverse Boonjaneerers. But even if its figured out, its probably going to mean taking a soldering iron to our beloved Boons.

     (P.S. I figured out your code… 1 = one!)

     -Mr. Speaker

204. Boony can talk!

     He requires some re-programming, but he can still talk!

     -Tim

205. a great job tim ,you have a resurection boon,and just after easter at that ,is this a sign from the great beer tap in the sky that so lovingly driped life into him,
     LONG LIVE RESURECTION BOON

     -mark

206. wow today is the 29th of april and my boony started talking at 6AM sharp this morning, and kept going until midday then stopped

     did this happen to ayone else? weird..

     -luke

207. Luke,

     From my investigations, Boony can run for about 16 weeks then he is programmed to stop. Seems like your’s has suffered a glitch (or is drunk!!). It must be re-looping. What was the code-word? Check the next code-word with that posted above, this will give you an idea of where he thinks he is.

     -Tim

208. 7:14am on the 7/5/2006 (bloody early on a Sunday)

     Both my Boony’s woke up and said the cricket was about to start!

     -Tom Lohdan

209. Both of them are going nuts, randomly talking with 4-5 different quotes per talk session

     -Tom

210. My Boony said
     7:17am 7-5-06 Get me a VB the crickets about to start
     8:17 Same day “is it time for a beer yet

     -troutbloke

211. boonie is talking again!! he has said 3 things to me this morning. the cricket isnt about to start??

     -adi

212. 7/5/06 9:30am sunday,
     and my Boony is asking for a beer as well!
     he is responding to the ‘boon.wav’ too.

     -Mark

213. Yeah - guys - Boony woke me wanting a beer at 6.30 this morning !! He is alive !!!

     -jg

214. Sun 7/5/06
     We’ve got 2 Boonys that always spoke a minute apart. They both went off @ 6:30 Adelaide time. He lives!

     -Koodgee

215. Sun 7/5/06

     Boony is alive and well.. he woke me up at some ridiculous hour too asking for a beer.

     -tony

216. He woke me up at 5am (7-5-2006) Perth time and hasnt stopped chattering since.

     -Tooth DeKay

217. 10.40am Sunday 7 May 2006: My Boony is alive! He initially responded to a high-pitched sound from my clock radio and then as requested via the boon.wav file.

     -Jason W

218. OH MY GOD, HE SPEAKS,HE SPEAKS,HE SPEAKS,HE SPEAKS,HE SPEAKS,HE SPEAKS,HE SPEAKS,HE SPEAKS,HE SPEAKS,HE SPEAKS,HE SPEAKS,
     my tamper boon was picked up and “played” with by my daughter on sat 6-5-06 and today 7-5-06 he told me the cricket is about to start and has spoke twice an hour since 7:30 this morning ,i will let you know what he thinks todays code word is when he spits it out.
     PS ,he speaks

     -mark

219. 10am Melbourne time and my Boony has just asked “When are we going to the pub?” This is the best thing since The Resurrection !!

     -peterh

220. Today is the 7th May 2006. I was awakened this morning by my Boony who asked “where’s my beer, the cricket is about to start”. About 1/2 an hour ago (11.15am) my Boony asked me if I had nachos….it’s the first time he has talked since the VB series finished!

     -E.K

221. 12:00 Brisbane lil boon just spoke half an hour ago. I’m a little shat though because I’ve only ever heard him say four different comments in the last cricket season.

     -OMG

222. Today is Sunday May the 7th, and this morning at 7:30am, Boonie woke me up by asking for a beer! A little later he asked for Nachos.
     Beer and Nachos, the breakfast of champions.

     -Marcus Wynwood

223. My sister gave me a Boonie after the cricket had finished. He is talking today for the first time! 7th May!
     Go Boonie

     -Rod

224. 1:30pm Whe are wegoin to the pub x2
     Is this staring a new loop

     -OMG

225. My Boony has been talking all day, 7 May is the second coming! just let out a nice loud “SHOT” which is funny as I’m watching AFL right now!

     -Paul

226. 1:00PM. 7/5/06 Our Boonies are going off! Talking more than they did during the series. “When are we going to the pub?” OK OK OK - they’ve convinced us - we’re going to the pub.

     -Koodgee

227. Where’s me beer

     OMG

     -OMG

228. Have a swing mate!

     I can bowl better than that

     He’s never said this before

     -OMG

229. Codeword for today is “BAT”

     -Mark

230. Today’s code word is bat! anybody else get a code word?

     -E.K

231. i grabbed my boony from work,
     and he is as talkative as the one at home!
     both agree todays code word is bat…

     May 07 = Jan 13 - Bat
     May 09 = Jan 15 - Ball
     May 11 = Jan 17 - VB
     May 14 = Jan 20 - Cheers
     May 16 = Jan 22 - Slab
     May 18 = Jan 24 - Stubby
     May 20 = Jan 26 - Thirsty
     May 23 = Jan 29 - Legend

     till June 09 = Feb 14 ?

     -MarkW

232. Welcome back Boony, you legend, I knew you’d come good.

     Why today??????????????????

     -xpfalcon

233. This morning at exactly 7:34:40am Boony was alive!
     I work for Railcorp and part of my job entails writing the arrival and departure times of trains, so i was looking at the time when Boony went off (Yes, Boony is at work). Then exactly an hour later (8:34:40am) he spoke again. Then once more at 9:34:40am, then after that it was game on! “Shot!” “Got any Nachos? I love Nachos” “Get me a beer!” etc all at random intervals as if a game was in progress.

     It was good to hear him again!

     -gabbalo

234. woo - hoo todays code word is bat ,im looking forward to this all over again

     -mark

235. 4:15 -7-5-06 i feel like playing totem tennis

     -mark

236. both my boonies made that remark, “i feel like playing totem tennis” too,
     tho the first at about 3:35pm, the second at about 4pm (qld time, which is eastern australian standard time).
     the earlier boonie was bought from melbourne, the latter from qld.
     they were also out of sync with the code word at about the same duration.
     curious!

     -MarkW

237. I am sorry to those who know (could not find it using the search), but does this link help anyone ! Try : http://www.veilinteractive.com/

     Quote ” VEIL provided the technology behind Foster’s “Boonanza” summer promotion in Australia. VEIL enabled figurines were distributed to qualified participants. When placed in front of the television during a cricket match, the figurines say catch phases and words that enhance the viewer experience. Hundreds of thousands of figurines were distributed and the consumer response was outstanding.”

     Does this help anyone - maybe even Tim ?

     Cheers
     jg

     -jg

238. “Why today??????????????????”

     In this blog thread: http://mrspeaker.webeisteddfod.com/2006/02/02/reverse-boonjaneering/ Tim tells us the timer EEPROM has 65535 possible values. Using my trusty calculator..
     Divide this number by 2 (1 read/1 write cycle ?)
     Multiply by 5 (each 5 min increment)
     Divide by 60 (mins)
     Divide by 24 (hours)
     Leaves 113.776.. (days since the Jan 13th game)
     If you can keep him powered up, it looks like Booney will restart every (approx) 114 days!

     -Holby

239. Holby,

     I made a mistake. There are only 32768 values as when the timer got to 7FFF (in hex) it rolled over to 0000.

     It seems that Veil interactive did not account for people actually beleiving that crap about opening Boony and not working. They have made the counter loop. Grab a cricket timetable and you all should be right.

     On the mod chip side of things. The first one should be ready by Friday. If this works, he will be put on eBay to see how much he goes for. After that, I will be offering a service to install them for you.

     I WILL NOT BE PROVIDING SCHEMATICS!!!

     It wouldn’t help as it requires re-programming anyway.

     -Tim

240. i thought somebody had broken into my house i woke about 3 in the morning to somebody asking for a beer, it scared the crap out of me

     -bob

241. Boonie lives!

     -Kel

242. So what happens if you replace the batteries?

     Does that put him out of sync?

     -Tom

243. My Boony started talking too yesterday 07MAY06. “Today’s Code Word Is Bat” (x3) . I had to search google as I thought I was going nuts! This is piss funny…. He is back out of the cupboard now! GO THE BOONY !!!

     -Hardo

244. No problem Tim. Doesn’t affect the calculations much - is now 113.7777 days between restarts. He will be looking for a beer 5 hours & 20 mins earlier each time.;)

     -Holby

245. ozNoz found this gem! Boony’s shout — it just won’t go away where we are advised: “I wouldn’t want to encourage people to tinker with it, and people can rest assured, he can’t talk forever,”

     Fools! Of course he can talk forever! Haven’t they been following the reverse boonjaneering efforts?!

     -Mr. Speaker

246. Well the cricket has been over for weeks and on monday our boony started talking again! he never shut up when we first got him and we thought that it would stop after the cricket which it did but just recently starting asking “where’s my beer”, “got any nachos” and “has anyone seen my thongs”. i understand he cant talk forevr the batteries will not last but why is he talking again now?

     -Sharna

247. Peoples,

     The mighty Boon’s is programmed to count every 5mins. As stated above, the counter range is 0 to 32767. When he gets to the end, he reloads. Thus Boony will keep talking, but only the preset quotes (thongs, nachos, get me a VB…). The tones will still work as well, so grab a soldering iron and head to the boonjaneering page…

     If you remove the batteries, he will only pause. As soon as you put them back in again, he will resume from where he was.

     By this Friday, I will have the boards for the mod chips done. I’ll mod two Boons and list them on eBay as I need some cash to get some more parts for them.

     Hopefully by mid next week I’ll be able to start modding your Boons if anyone is still interested.

     -Tim

248. I suppose this is now by the wayside now that tim has reverse engineeered the ciruits.
     I have just noted that boony will speak even though he is not in a talk window(LED on)
     has any one else noticed this phenomena ?????

     -mark

249. Mark,

     Does he speak with a tone? Or an automatic quote?
     What does he say?

     -Tim

250. Hi, I found this website after my curiosity was itching me as to wether eveyone elses Boony was starting to talk too. Our booney never talked all summer….not a word….now here we are in May and during breakfast one day he says, Got a beer yet? and he hasn’t stoped talking since then. Look as though there are other waking boony’s out there.

     -Beer Delivery Guy

251. My Talking Boonie I bought off E-bay only to find it was only for the PAST series, BUT I changed batteries and now he talks, go figure huh?

     It seems random thou

     -Pete

252. We Boony is back, Mine started talking again, during Playschool, and he scared my 2 YR daughter.
     Funny as F#@k.

     -Ray

253. Attention all,

     Boon mod chips are up and running!

     Email if interested me at:
     gatekeeper_man@hotmail.com

     -Tim

254. For a video of the ModdedBoon:
     http://video.tinypic.com/player.php?v=15ogsgi

     -Tim

255. Boony is coming back this summer…and he is bringing a mate.

     -Boony Authority

256. Cool,

     Long live the reverse boonjaneering!

     -Tim

257. Hi All,
     I have sort of given up on the reverseboongenering. But. They make a great set of PC speakers.
     I have made a pcb with amp and volume control that fits inside boony.

     file:///mnt/winxp/steve/2006-07-16–14.22.40/booneyexposed.jpg

     -steve

258. I live in Scotland. My daughter, who lives and works in Melbourne brought me one when she was back here in July as a little reminder of my visit there last Xmas. Well, didn’t the little bugger start talking during the night here (about 4am—1pm your time)on 12th August 2006. Gave us the fright of our lives. There was no TV or radio on at that time of course. We thought we’d been burgled. He did this for a few nights but has gone quiet again. Brian in Glasgow

     -Brian

259. Boony confirmed to be returning with a mate!!

     http://www.smh.com.au/news/business/fosters-doll-returns/2006/08/23/1156012609920.html

     -DGC

260. Cool, this will give me something to do this summer. My PhD is getting boring, I need to have some Boonys chatting to each other while I watch the cricket!

     Hope his mate’s Warney, that way I can SMS him the names of some hot chicks!!

     Go Warney!!!

     -Tim

261. It talks again…again! 30 August 2006 - Boonie asks me if I had a Pool Table 3 times (I never heard that before) and then said “good nut…good nut”. 7 months after cricket season Boonie is STILL going hard!

     -Alex

262. 5am Melbourne time, 29th August. Woken up by “Good Nut!” He’s back! Long live BOONIE !!

     -artinzurich

263. 7am in Tassis and Boonie asked for a VB and said “ther’re throwing out pies”….whatever that means…
     Go Boonie!!!!!

     -Marcus Wynwood

264. my boony’s back too (august 29) and hes been talking non stop for about an hour now but his batteries are going flat so i changed them and now he’s silent. any ideas??

     -VB

265. I found that as the battery voltage fell, Boony became more talkative, but is was usually only gibberish.

     When you replaced the batteries, he was back to his normal boring self.

     -Tim

266. My mate in Castle Hill has a Boony that asked for a VB. Ive had the batteries out of mine since his last outburst because he wouldnt shut up. Just replasced them waiting patiently for words of wisdom.

     -DGC

267. My Boony also stared talking again, first last night at about midnight (29August) Perth time and then 3 or 4 more times during the night and this morning before work. It scared the crap out of me, he said “the crickets about to start get me a VB” and then kept saying “today’s code word is bat”.

     -Nathan

268. Our Boonie started talking once again around 3:00am Tassie time on 29th August with a whole new range of comments, woke the whole house up several times. Then about 9:00am he began to chatter and kept repeating “Have a swing”.

     All this and still on the original batteries too! :-)

     Can’t wait for his mate to be released but I may have to relocate them to the garage each night.

     -Mike McBain

269. Wow, he’s back but sadly his battery is running low so he just makes a noise rather than speaking actual words.

     Can I change the battery and he’ll still work?

     -Bridiej

270. Bridiej,

     When the batteries run low he becomes more “chatty”. If you change the batteries, he should still work, but won’t talk as often.

     -Tim

271. Hey everyone! Just a heads up to tell you all to get over to the Pimp My Boony page and see the AWESOME work Tim has done in creating a modded Boony that will talk randomly and on-demand. Get your order in TODAY!

     Also, can anyone confirm Bears’s rumour (see above, somewhere) that Boony’s mate this season will be Richie Benaud? Who would you like to see next to Boon on your mantle this year?

     -Mr. Speaker

272. What I’d like to know is if their functionality will be different?? I sorta had fun hacking the Talking Boony, so I’m ready for another challenge.

     Talking Benaud - now there’s a thought
     (tchew for twenty-tchew!)

     -Tim

273. I thought Boony had died earlier in the year when I replaced his batteries and one of them exploded, but bugger me dead if he didn’t just start up again asking me for beer ‘cause the cricket’s about to start.

     YAY for “Resurrection Boony”

     My guess for Boony’s mate is Ian “Beefy” Botham. It is the Ashes Series after all..

     -Obe

274. All my girl wanted last Xmas was a talking Boony , but yesterday she gave him back . It seems as if Boony chats in the middle of the night saying the cricket is about to begin , bring me a VB and other crap . Boony stayed the night but not a peep . Watch this space .

     Andy

     -Andy

275. 7th Sept. My daughter replaced Boony’s batteries a couple of weeks ago when he had a lot to say, but very sloooooowwwllyy.
     He’s talked sporadically since, but this morning between 7 and 8am he moved back into chatterbox mode. One phrase he kept repeating which we couldn’t understand was “Where’s my Danny?”. Not sure if the last word was Danny. Has anyone heard this one before?

     -Robbie

276. It’s “Where’s me beer”

     -Tim

277. Tim

     It sounds different to ‘Where’s me beer’. The last word has two syllables, ending with an ‘ee’ sound. He said it about ten times in a row, but we still weren’t sure of the word.

     Has anyone else heard anything like this?

     Robbie

     -Robbie

278. The only other one it could be is “shades of Boony”

     -Tim

279. Guys.

     Boony will be back and all will be revealed in October.

     Check out: http://www.accure.com.au/carpark/index.php/boony-is-back

     Might be able to get a few hints

     -BGE

280. Ihave read afair bit fom this sight and havent really learnt anything useful but i must say isnt boony great!! bye the way under the blob of epoxy is a drop of you guessed it V.B

     -pondeye

281. The New Boony Line up is now out for Boony’s mate this season…

     Take your pick from the usual suspects : http://www.accure.com.au/carpark/index.php/boony-is-back

     -BGE

282. A ha! Our anonymous tipster was right - it IS gunna be Ritchie… Excellent! Though, a talking Viv would be pretty cool.

     -Mr. Speaker

283. It isn’t Ritchie Mr.Speaker

     And good news for you Tim - the functionality will be different this year

     -Boony Authority

284. Haha,

     Excellent!!

     -Tim

285. its official, boonys friends is Ian “Beefy” Botham.

     http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,20429468-2882,00.html

     -jeremy

286. sounds like it could be true jeremy

     wouldn’t it be great if they could talk to each other?

     -Boony Authority

287. Boonie is alive again for the 3rd time (as expected), however is gett gradulally earier and earlier with each ressurection. As this is annoying my collegues who get in much earlier than I do (and as I haven’t heard him say a single thing yet), is it possible to take the battery out for a few hours and make him talk at a more reaonable hour?

     -Thomo

288. Our Boony never said a word until a week ago, now I can’t shut him up. What I want to know is how can u get your hands on the new ones????

     -Krys

289. THE NEW ONES ARE OUT!!!!

     Go to the boonanza website are you can get them!

     -Tim

290. Just ordered a pair, can’t wait to get hacking on them!!

     -Tim

291. ATTENTION: IMPORTANT DAVID BOON NEWS!!
     TALINK BOONY IS BACK WITH TALKING A NEW NEMESIS - TALKING BOTHAM. http://www.smh.com.au/news/business/boony-returns-to-attack-for-fosters/2006/10/04/1159641393123.html

     -Phil

292. Anyone got the new boony and beefy yet?

     -Jase_34

293. Apparently my order has been cleared.
     I guess that means my order has cleared the warehouse & is enroute. So,any day now I should have a new doll, as my work colleagues describe Boony.
     They think it is funny that I have “a doll”
     Just wait til they see my new thongs & tinnie holder!!!

     -David

294. I GOT MY NEW BOONIE AND BOTHAM DOLLS TODAY!

     -Daniel

295. Boony & Beefy arrived Friday. My thongs & stubbie holder are still awaited.
     To quote Boony 1 “anyone seen mi thongs”

     The new figures are based on Tim’s modified Boony’s. I hope Tim took out a pattent !

     Or is Tim really the designer ?

     -David

296. Dammit!!

     I knew I forgot something! Oh, well.

     Mine arrived on Friday, hoping to let the screwdriver loose upon their souls very soon, but my fiance won’t let me until after the cricket. Anyone opened them yet??

     -Tim

297. got my Boony and Beefy earlier this week,
     after the intial ‘aussie aussie aussie oi oi oi’ at start-up, they have only repeated a few phrases with the button…

     beefy…
     it’s a barmy day today
     jolly good show ole chap
     chase that, convict!
     steady on! this beer’s cold

     boony…
     how ya goin’ knackers
     here come the poms. break out the scrubbing brushes
     aww yes! cop that
     if i could get off this and walk, i’d walk to the pub

     does any-one elses say different things?

     i tried the tv remote-control on the infra-red sensors, tho nothing happened. oh well.

     the instructions say i have to sit back,crack open an ice cold can and wait for the cricket to start before they start talking without the button.
     how will they know when the cricket starts?! another hidden battery running a timer maybe?

     -MarkW

298. Just opened Boony (Mk II), he’s got a button-battery inside!!

     Seems that he want’s to keep ticking and know what time it is. I’ll have to whisk him into the lab tomorrow along with his nemisis - Beefy!

     Onward ho!

     -Tim

299. If you want to stay up to date on the sayings of Boony and Beefy I have videos over at my site (http://boony.mollyzine.com! Get yours there hot!
     Molly
     PS. By the way I read some where that last year there was button Boony 1’s that where made available for the Press to use to set them off when they wanted.

     -Phillip Molly Malone

300. I have a list of what my boonie has said so far at http://aussieidiotbox.wordpress.com/talking-boonie-page/
     -thanks

     -Daniel

301. Just updating that link, it’s now http://whatsonthetube.net/talking-boonie-page/ however the other works as well.
     - Thanks

     -Daniel

302. I have started a campaign for Channel Seven to create a Talking Bruce for the AFL’s return for 2007. You can sign your support for the idea at… http://whatsonthetube.net/talking-bruce-campaign/
     - Thanx

     -Daniel

303. if removing the batteries buggers boony up. then why not try to provide a temporary power supply while changing the batteries so he doesnt loose power during the transition. Also have you seen what boony dolls are going for on ebay 70 bucks!!! sheees!!! imagine what he’ll be worth in another ten years!!!

     -rapid_heart

304. Believe it or not but Beefy asked last night if anyone wanted to play darts without any button pressing one my part!!!!
     I almost fell off the couch.

     -Obe

305. Boonie and Beefy said new things today, i documented it at http://whatsonthetube.net/talking-boonie-page/

     -Daniel

306. 10 minutes before the Melbourne Cup,

     “boony wants a beer
     boony wants a beer
     boony wants a beer

     i reckon i coulda been a jockey”!

     -MarkW

307. Got home just five minutes before the Melbourne Cup started and got some great comments.

     2.57pm Boony: Got a tip for the Cup?

     2.59pm Boony: Your Round Beefy
     Beefy: Your Rounder Boony!

     3.10pm Boony: We backed Phar Lap!
     We backed Phar Lap!
     We backed Phar Lap!

     -Nashdale

308. Hey Rapid Heart,
     You can goto the Boonanza website and get them for $55 plus $4 P&H.
     Molly
     http://boony.mollyzine.com

     -Phillip Molly Malone

309. 10pm on the 7th November they said…
     Boonie…
     “What do you think Beefy, off to the pub for a night cap?”
     Beefy…
     “Sound’s good to me Boonie.”

     -Daniel

310. 8pm 9th November, boony mentions Movember…i was wondering why 5 minutes earlier he proclaimed “you know what they say about blokes with a big mo” or something similar.

     -Mitch

311. could someone please send me instructions for boone and beefy dolls as i chucked them out by mistake

     -sandee stevens

312. I have a copy of the instructions posted on my Boony Page at: http://whatsonthetube.net/talking-boonie-page/

     -DaNnY bOy

313. Hi everyone

     One of my friends got his Boony and Beefy dolls two days ago.

     We followed the operating instructions to the letter.

     Beefy jumped to life!
     Boony only hiccuped, “BEEP BEEP BEEP” or “BEEP BEEP”
     or “BEEP”.

     I sadly said to my friend, “There’s something wrong with Boony”.

     Being the forever curious and a never give up without a fight
     type of electronics hobbyist, I said,

     “Get me a small Phillips screwdriver”.

     My friend paused for moment.

     Then he hiccup, “O.K., but let me get a beer first”.

     I thought to myself, “Did Boony just say something?”

     Screwdriver now in hand, my element I was now in.

     The first screw I removed was the battery cover screw.

     Sweating profusely by now , and full of self doubt, I proceeded to remove the three
     1.5V carbon batterries.

     Struggling onwards and upwards towards my questionable goal
     I proceded to remove the four screws that would permit
     the detachment of Boonies lower extremities.

     I prayed in silence to God, for the salvation of Boonies Soul, and mine,
     in the case that something horrible might happen.

     Then I mused to myself, “Hell, he’s probably up there allready, swappin’ yarns with the “big G”
     about how the rules of cricket and that of life are so similar”?

     Well, I can’t speak for Boony but I do believe in Jonnathan Livingston Seagull and the rule of
     ‘ Infinite Innings’.

     A sigh of relief came fourth as I held the little, helpless, dissected, Boony body in my
     trembling, sweaty hands.

     The problem with ‘Beep only Boony’ seemed at first sight to be that,
     his onboard 3V lithium battery retainer had failed to live up to it’s post in life.

     One of the retainer’s two lugs had failed in it’s sol (dered) duty as an anchor
     and electrical conductor to the circuit board.

     The faulty retainer lug just happened to be the one that supplies +3V to
     Boonies brains, that which is covered by the ‘blob of black resin’ .

     The other lug on the battery retainer is electrically isolated. It’s an anchor only.

     After repairing the above mentioned soldered anchor point and restoring power to Boonies brains
     I was devastated by the cold, hard fact that Boony had an ‘Alchoholic Volatile ROM’ (AVR) for a brain.

     Yey S my fellow bewitched, befuddled, bamBoonled, ‘VenB’ittered Boony bloggers!

     MY FRIENDS BOONY DOLL IS BRAIN DEAD !

     LONG LIVE BOONIES LONELY, LETHARGIC, LOUDMOUTHED, LUX REPELLING, BEEFY !

     Post Scriptum 1

     To Tim,
     as an electronics hobbyist I can’t wait to here what you have to say.

     To other purchases of ‘Boony and Beefy’ dolls, I hope that all is well,
     because, from what I have read on the www.boonanza.com.au website’s FAQs,
     if you’re newly purchased Boony Beefy dolls don’t work it is a matter of
     quote, “tough titties”, no replacement, no refund.

     Post Scriptum 2

     Be happy, don’t worry, I ‘me just being my normal
     negative self when I can’t fix something.

     Regards Lawrie Bau

     -Lawrie

314. They’re using a very similar technology to that of last year’s Boonys. There is a button battery inside to keep Boony & Beefy ticking along to the beat and if the power is removed they will simply pause.

     At certain times they will say certain things, but without an internal microphone I don’t see how they can be triggered from the TV like last time. Before anyone says it, NO, it WONT be the TV to the IR panels, the TV does not and can’t produce infrared signals!!!
     I suspect that their functionality will be somewhat reduced to just chatting to each other via the IR panels along with timed comments. This is probably the reason for the buttons on the tops.

     If Lawrie’s has been paused from day 1, then it will be quite hard to re-sync him again. I may be able to re-program him, but I actually haven’t had much of a chance to tinker with them, my PhD is consuming quite a bit of time recently. Hopefully this week I may get some spare time?!?!?

     -Tim

315. Guys,
     This is very freaky.

     The new boonie just went off with

     “Is it Bin night tonight?”

     and you better believe it…. IT IS!!!

     This is amazing stuff I’m still laughing!!

     He’s sitting near the window maybe his seen the other bins in the street hahahahahaha

     long live boonie!

     Paul

     -BoonBinDrinkin

316. New push button sayings today… Sun 19th Nov

     Beefy - “I love warm beer, and lashings of it”
     “Barmy Army! Barmy Army! Barmy Army!”
     “Yes! Cracking shot that”
     “Hey got any crisps there?”

     Boony - “Hey, Is it bin night tonight?”
     “G’day I’m the fourth umpire”
     “Time for a spell, Hand me a VB”
     “Right, Time to give the poms a bath”

     -Jase_34

317. Yep my Boony and Beefy both fired up with same comments today also. What is the fate of our original Boonies ? When is the next cycle of talking expected to commence.None of mine - I”ve got a dozen are saying anything.

     -Jammo

318. After Beefy’s “Barmy Army” Boony fired up….”Boony Army, Boony Army”. sensational!

     -Thai Boony

319. Tim,
     Might we be able to assume that the speaker doubles as a microphone? The guide does say it reacts with the cricket on tv.

     All we need to decide is HOW we want to modify these to cricket marvels. Maybe I could rig them up to my Christmas tree lights.

     -nemec

320. I thought I read that this years won’t react to the TV. I am sure they have said there purely timer based!

     JMTC
     Molly
     http://boony.mollyzine.com

     -Phillip Molly Malone

321. 11:40pm 22 Nov New Boonie untouched just said “Anyone seen me socks”

     -Jammo

322. You would have to implement some pretty fancy electronics to use the speaker as a microphone, it can (and has been) done, but it would be far cheaper to load a small electret mic like the ones on last year’s Boonys.

     -Tim

323. ALAS I HAVE KILLED BOONEY.
     CHANGED THE BATTERIES.
     AS,NT SPOKEN A WORD.
     TRIED THE TONE GENERATOR SOFTWARE, NOT A WHISPER.
     IS IT POSSIBLE HE IS UPSET WITH ME AND JUST BEING STUBBORN.?
     I HOPE NOT, I BOUGHT HIM A NEW FRIEND FRIEND FOR XMAS.
     A BARBIE DOLL WITH A SKIMPY BIKINI ON.
     OH WELL ROLL ON THE NEW GENERATION.

     C’MON THE AUSSIES.

     -DAVE LIZARD

324. When Stuart Clark moosed Anderson yesterday, New Boon proclaimed “Cracking Shot!” or something of that ilk. This years ones are supposed to only be on a timer, and if so they fluked that one!

     -Mitch

325. I was wrong about not being able to get a replacement for my malfuctioning Boony2 doll because of the limited stock

     I found this ‘Ask a Question’ Fosters Group web page

     http://fostersau.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/fosters.cfg/php/enduser/ask.php?p_sid=Qd1usJ3i&p_lva=&p_sp=cF9zcmNoPSZwX3NvcnRfYnk9JnBfZ3JpZHNvcnQ9JnBfcm93X2NudD00OSZwX3BhZ2U9MQ**&p_li=&p_srch=

     I submitted info about my problem
     Five minutes later a lovely lady rang me to get my address
     Seven days later new Boony and Beefy dolls on my front porch

     Happy vegemite

     -Lawrie

326. Hey guys,

     I posted a while ago about my original Boony losing its solder to the battery pack. I was told that I could just solder it back on.

     If I haven’t attempted to perform this necessary surgery on Boony to this day, and I did it tomorrow, do you reckon he will work?

     -Shmoo

327. Shmoo,

     Which battery pack was discinnected?
     There is a button battery inside that keepes the timer up to date, the AAA batteries are purely for the speech.

     -Tim

328. Yeah it was just the AAAs that were disconnected. If I was to solder the wires back on to the battery pack, would the red wire go to the solder point that is connected to a positive battery end?

     -Shmoo

329. Yeah, usually red = “+ve”, black = “-ve”

     -Tim

330. Did anyone’s Boony from 05/06 come back to life last night? Myne did at bloody 2:35am and every hour after that. Also now if i play the tone from last years telecast he speaks also.
     http://whatsonthetube.net/talking-boonie-page

     -DaNnY bOY

331. The battery on mine would have to be as dead as the Proverble!
     Molly

     -Phillip Molly Malone

332. does the new boonanza 2 bonny and beefy work in the one dayers

     -louis

333. Original Boony is awake again!!! Sweet.

     -Matt Clarke

334. Louis: Word is that they will.
     Molly

     -Phillip Molly Malone

335. You guys might like to check out http://www.davidboonfacts.com - heaps of cool facts about boonie!!!

     -Jake Tracey

336. Hehehe, picked up Boony Mk II at the Gabba today - funny! Boony and Beefy are more detailed, and they say funny things! Awesome!

     -Shmoo

337. Hey, got mine at the Adelaide ODI (crap game) Sundays game when Australian open final was on too, Boony said “forget the Aus Open, get the VB open” CLASSIC !

     -Richo

338. We’ve got Boony here in England as well as the interactive pair Boony/Beefy.
     They all talk a lot, particularly Boony.
     On Christmas morning he said “Ho Ho Ho Its Father Boony Here”
     bit terrifying to be honest lol

     -Rob

339. Anybody know if Boonie will speak during the World Series?

     -Dave

340. My local bottleshop had some Boony and Beefy Boonanza II dolls on display today, with a price tag of $12.95.

     I asked if he had many, and he said he had 3 boxes of them.

     Reckon i will buy a few tommorrow.

     Tuesday, 13th March

     -MarkW

341. The original Boonies are awake again. I have 6 original 2005/6 Boonies which I have replaced the batteries in. They have ALL recommenced speaking again as from 11 March 2007 and were still talking as of today 18 March 2007. Most speak daily with up to 8 different sayings. Some go a day without speaking then start again. No particular time patterns. If TIM is still around would like to hear from him about modifying some of them to press button activation etc.

     -Jammo

342. Has anyone tryed to use the IR to connect the dolls to their PC’s?

     -Aldo

343. Friday the 13th (April 2007) and Original Talking Boonie is off again - Nachos, Thongs and Today’s Codeword is Bat.

     Changed his batteries once before but he could be almost ready for another - starting to slur his words again (even more than real Boonie) :-)

     -Darwin_Dave

344. yeah, friday the 13th and original boonie is back.Good timing cos the aussies play Ireland tonight. Slurring his words as if he’s knocked off a slab by himself. So, i’ve changed his batteries again (3rd time)and he’s happy (so am I).

     -artinzurich

345. Boony Doll update posted June 13th 2007

     The little figurines just keep on surprising me with their cleverness.

     Two days ago, on the Queen’s birthday holiday, Beefy sprang back to life with a “here’s to you Lizzie, happy birthday” greeting and later in the day followed it up with his own (almost) tuneful version of God Save the Queen. This of course earned a sarcastic response from Boony.

     The Aussie national anthem did get it’s own airplay time way back on the January 26th Australia Day holiday. Naturally on that occasion it was our own Boony who crooned Advance Australia Fair.

     I had planned to put the figurines to sleep after the cricket World Cup series but now I’m reluctant to shut them down in case I miss another important surprise announcement from the little cricketers.

     Boony Boony Boony Oi Oi Oi

     -daviepops - Tasmania

346. He’s up snd running again in Doncaster….. yes at the start of the Month (July 2007 ) Boony “rose from the dead” and is now in full voice with his want of Nacho’s watching the cricket, going to the pub….. you name it.
     No need to be watching the TV…. he just blurts out his message whenever he wants….. intrusive little “b”… lol

     -Peter Bennett

347. August 5, 2007 and Boonie Mk I is in full voice yet again!

     Long live Boonie!

     -Darwin_Dave

348. Does anyone know the factory in China that produced the talking Boonie Dolls?

     -glenn

349. Hey Glenn - I remember someone HAD tracked down the company… but I can’t find where they wrote it. I’ll have a look through the other Boony posts here and see if I can dig it up!

     -Mr. Speaker

350. Aug 30 2007: Boonie#1 has gone ‘Ken Bruce’ today. “Where’s me beer” & “when’s the drink’s break” are on high rotation!

     -Sammy

351. Boony Doll update posted October 3rd 2007

     My original boonie is still asking for some VB’s. I changed the batteries recently and the little guy is firing on all cylinders once again. Believe it or not his newly recovered vocal antics have timed perfectly with the ODI matches against India last Saturday night and again last night. Pure coincidence ??? … anything else is just too spooky to contemplate.

     Will there be a new Boonie and friend released for the 2007/08 series?

     Boonie Boonie Boonie Oi Oi Oi

     daviepops - Tasmania

     -Anonymous

352. OMG … this is getting way too weird …

     I just posted the previous blog (less than 5 minutes ago) and now I’ve just seen a news story on TV with Boonie and Warnie together with a life size model of the Warnie doll to be released for the coming summer cricket season.

     I think I need several VB’s right NOW !!!

     -daviepops - Tasmania

353. hey mate…
     its 2007 and the cricket kicks off in feb 08.. and boonie is out.. warnie is in.

     anyway.. i was also curious today as i bought a slab and won a warnie doll, and decided to open him up.

     to my suprise i found no microphone and the speaker had no transformer to convert it to a microphone. hence the curiousity grew. im on the net now.. and had a look at ur pics of the PCB (printed circuit board) and u also dont have a microphone.

     which leads me to say that ur initial assumption was incorrect, but ur method of deduction was correct… ie. the chip that is in the “goo”(as one of ur repliers stated) is indeed the micro controller that is set to the time.
     to prove it, u would have reliesed that the doll only spoke during the telecast of the cricket. this means 1. it knew the time (hence the micro controller) 2. since the controller had been set to the scheduled air date the microcontroller programmers did not allow for the ads (commercials), (therefore it would speak in altering environments)

     -BOBBY the ENGINEER

354. hey Bobby - sounds like the new Warnie dolls are shit then - the Boony doll certainly did have a microphone, which reacted to frequencies from the tele (or, a sine wave generator if you had one handy). The fact they cut out the microphone reduces any further dolls to marketing boringness - hence the lack of coverage here!

     -Mr. Speaker

355. Whoa! That was cynical. Sorry about that - too many Resches. Yeah, beefy-boony interaction seemed quite cool, but what’s Warnie bringing to the table? Anything interesting? I gotta go buy some VB and see! Let us know if you find anything cool though… The original Boony sure stored some surprises, so here’s hoping.

     -Mr. Speaker

356. Has anyone figured out how to wake up Boony at off peak times.

     I’ve played with the tone generator and bunches of tones but bugger all happens. I’d love to be able to ping off a tone here or there and get him to talk everynow and then… remenice and remember the good ol days.

     -Just not Cricket

357. Now Warnie is in town - with NO BUTTON!!! Mr Speaker… this sounds like a challenge! I think there needs to be a coordinted effort to reverse engineer him. Let me know if/how I can help.

     -DPOK

358. Boony Doll update posted January 26th 2008

     My ORIGINAL Boony doll has come back to life yet again !!!

     He started chatting away a couple of days ago so now I’m wondering if that might coincide with a ODI date on the first year the little guy was on the market ??? He’s been in such good voice that the batteries actually went flat today and he began talking in an ever slowing drawl so I replaced the energizers and he’s firing on all cylinders once again. My Boony/Beefy duo only talk when I hit the buttons.

     Cheers Boony

     -daviepops - Tasmania

359. Ok… Congrats to all significant (and insignificant) posters, and of course to Mr Speaker, for your informative expose on this groundbreaking, Australian born, Marketing Junk. Thank-you.

     Ok.. My Boony has been hiding out in a junk box for over a year now. Yesterday I unscrewed his bottom, to find he was quite soiled. His batteries had begin to leak. To some this would be the end; but not for me (or Boony). Even with the original batteries well and truly drained (have been in lil Boony for over two years now)… Boony is ALIVE! (in fact he wont shut up) New batteries have resurrected the Boonmeister, and after a few minutes to reboot his little system he is asking for his beer, and when we are going to the pub. He must be thirsty. Never give up on an original Boony! all he needs is fresh batteries. Now I just need to wait for the next one dayer to see what pertinent pearls of wisdom he provides.

     Max

     -Max

360. Well I have sat through a couple games with Boonie’s replacement WARNIE now, and can I say what a flop.

     The original Boonie captivated audiences with his mysterious inner workings and the ‘fresh’ sayings. The Boonie (MkII) & Beefie were appealing because they were pre-hacked, and interacted with each other. Then came Warnie…

     To start with,

     (1) I can’t even hear what he is saying, his volume is much quieter than his predecessors’.

     (2) He was well over priced, around $30 with some ‘unique code’ from a carton. Now I am seeing him handed out at my local bottle-o for no charge at all - Still over priced (in my opinion). So clearly there is no uniform pricing policy, which only cheapens him.

     (3) Finally the instructions suggests positioning him near (within 2-3m or something) the TV, well beyond the fact that I cant hear him from that distance, these instructions appears to have no effect. No tones from the TV, nothing that seems to make him mumble more frequently at all.

     WARNINE is no substitute for the nacho loving Boonie.

     -DPOK

361. Putting Warnie near the TV is pointless.

     www.tasweb.org/news/whats_inside_vb_warnie.html

     Someone cracked him open, only to find there is no mic or anything like that for him to pick up TV signals.

     We have all been ripped off it seems.

     -Asuka

362. I am very disappointed with Warnie. No push button, and I have been unable to decipher a single Warnie remark due to its cruddy volume. I did like Boony Mk II, but nothing compared with the fascinating beeps and the ensuing discussion here of the one-and-only original Talking Boony.

     -Shmoo

363. The original Talking Boonie has kicked off yet again (March 19, 2008). Warnie may well be able to make anything turn but nothing can shut up ODI Boonie - the original and the best. (How’s that beer going?)

     -Darwin_Dave

364. The original Talking Boonie has kicked off yet again (March 19, 2008). Warnie may well be able to make anything turn but nothing can shut up ODI Boonie - the original and the best. (How’s that beer going?)

     -Darwin_Dave

365. Boony update May 28th 2008

     Original Boony is back to life again. This time around it happens in the middle of the night and very early morning. Mine has been chatting away regularly now for the past week or so asking for a VB or a nacho and repeating the “word of the day”. A mate’s original Boony sprang back to life at the same time as mine. This did seem to coincide with the Aussies playing in the West Indies. Is that possible?

     Go Boony … and the Aussie team !!!

     -daviepops

366. Hey “Darwin_Dave” … I just noticed the date on your post … seems like our Boony boys are working in sync as that’s about when sprang back into action down here in Hobart.

     Cheers mate from Hobart_Dave

     -daviepops

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